Angel with a Shotgun
by Leanex
Summary: Sora's just trying to make it through his tiring, boring life. But when a mysterious man starts watching him at work, Sora's world gets turned upside down and his wish for adventure suddenly becomes a reality. On Temporary Hiatus
1. An Angel with a Shotgun

**Goodness, I just can't get this out of my head. so I must write it.**

**They say to write what you know about. Well, I know about living in a no mans land town, being home schooled my whole life, working as an overnight stocker at Walmart with my brother, holding desperately onto a love that I know now is probably not meant to be, and wishing something more interesting would happen in my boring life.**

**Also, some people may seem kind of OOC at first, but I promise, they'll seem more themselves by, at the very most, the third chapter.**

**So without further delay, lets get this show on the road.**

**Warnings: Swearing, yaoi, boyxboy, stalkerish behavior if that even needs to be a warning XD**

**Disclaimer: I in no way own Kingdom Hearts or anything in relation to it. I simply own my plot bunnies.**

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><p>Women's.<p>

Men's.

Boy's.

Girl's and Girl's Basics.

Infants.

Boy's Basics.

Men's Basics.

Women's Basics.

Jesus, how positively boring could this job be?! Not to mention painful. In all his life he had never been in so much pain. He swore he could feel the bones in his spine rubbing together, his feet were terribly sore from walking around apparel all night, every night, and his legs. Good lord his legs. They ached so horribly that he had trouble getting to sleep in the morning from the pain. Not like he didn't already have trouble sleeping, but Christ that just made it worse.

Thankfully he was at least allowed to have his headphones in, so long as one stayed out so he could hear people talking to him.

Honestly, Sora was happy to help customers, it made him feel somewhat accomplished, and a job gave him something to do every day rather than sit around on his ass playing video games with his brother Vanitas. Plus, the pay was pretty good. 824 munny an hour was really fucking good. But he did not want to work at Walmart. The only reason he'd been on board with the idea was because his other brother Leon worked there, and he figured for a first job, having family around wouldn't be a bad idea. This job was mind numbing, and they worked him full time hours on what he was told was a part time job. Yeah, what a load that was. If he was getting paid full time, he might not mind it so much, or even if they were actually working him part time hours. But shit, he wasn't stupid. He knew when he was getting screwed over. He didn't even get holidays off cause they're a fucking 24 hour store. The only day he actually got off was Christmas Eve because even though the store would be closed for both days, he still had to come in to prepare the store for the next morning when everyone would return their god damn gifts for god only knows what fucking reason.

But back to the original point, spending breaks with his brother at least made the job some what bearable.

And yes, this was just a lot of pissing and moaning on his part, but Christ he had to rant at some point didn't he? Even if it was just in his fucking head...

Then of course there was the fact that he literally only got to be with his family for three hours before having to go to work. His biggest problem with this whole thing had to be that. See, most kids had the experience of getting up in the mornings, going to school for hours on end then only spending a small amount of time with their family. Sora did not. No, Sora was home schooled, and as happy as he was about that fact, it didn't change the fact that Sora was used to spending all of his time at home with his family.

So Sora missed his family like crazy. He missed sitting on his ass, watching My Little Pony with his two little sisters, and he missed staying up late with his mother, watching whatever she put on Netflix. He missed being awake when Vanitas got home from work and being able to talk about everything, even if they'd already had that conversation or told that story three times before.

And he sure as hell missed talking to his best friend Xion all day.

So with all of this, Sora could bashfully admit that his first five days of work he cried.

Then of course, there was Kairi.

Kairi was this amazing girl with beautiful blue eyes and dark red hair, almost a maroon color, and had been through absolute hell in life, and some how managed to continue to pick herself up and dust herself off to continue to muscle through this hell. All of his hardships paled in comparison to what that poor girl had been through. She had been pretty much disowned by her family, lived on the streets for two years then moved in with her brother. The girl was ghetto as fuck sometimes, but Jesus, her personality was like no other. They had met on a video game, fell for each other almost immediately, and despite Sora's family being totally against him being with her, they had managed to stay together for four years without fighting.

But of course, their first fight ended up the reason they were now apart. They were still friends for now, having made up, and they decided to see where things would go. Kairi obviously took it way more harshly than Sora had though, seeing as she constantly made him feel as though he were completely at fault without even trying. Or maybe she was trying, he had no clue really.

Either way, Sora was still absolutely head over heels, being reminded everytime they speak why he loved her, but he honestly had no clue about her. She liked to act emotionless so she couldn't get hurt, and Sora could understand why. A lot of his history was black from blocking out memories that hurt him. But he knew now that was no way to deal with his problems. He'd rather deal with the pain and become stronger from it rather than lose complete years of his past to his idiocy. And for someone like Kairi, he'd think she'd want the same.

Perhaps, she just hadn't realized this like Sora had. But it was possible she never will.

But regardless of this, he was still trying to fix things, even though in the back of his mind, he can hear himself screaming to let it go, that it's a lost cause, and it's not going to fucking happen. But no one ever listens to that voice, and neither did Sora. Which is why he was still trying so hard...

He just wished he could feel forgiven...

* * *

><p>Sora walked behind Leon and his friend Tidus as they slowly made their way to the break room. Both males were chatting away about video games as Sora pulled out his phone, remembering it had gone off while he was working, though he couldn't check it then. He slid his finger across the screen till he found the culprit, then clicked into his mail. Slowly, the phone loaded up the app and brought up his single unread email. The subject of the email read 'Blah', and the sender right beneath read Kairi.<p>

He tapped on the email and once more waited for his phone to load.

**Kairi: So, apparently my cousins younger brother has a crush on me.**

The message read, making Sora slightly raise a brow. It wasn't really news to him. Rather, it was something he was rather used to by now. Not the cousin part, but hearing about how others kept hitting on her. Sora had heard it many times over the years and frankly he understood why. Though that didn't keep that little twinge of jealousy at bay. After all, these people got to see her and be around her. Sora only got to talk to her occasionally. Still, they weren't together anymore, Sora couldn't get jealous, friends weren't supposed to feel that way right?

**Sora: I'm not surprised.**

Sora looked up from his down turned position as he tucked his phone back in his pocket. Passing him was a tall male with long silver hair. His bangs hung in his eyes so he could just barely make out the aquamarine color to them. Quickly, his phone buzzed in his pocket once more, and he looked away from the male to turn his attention back to his phone.

**Kairi: What do you guys see in me? I don't get it.**

At this point, the three men were seated at a table in the break room, the one nearest to the tv. Leon and Tidus were still chattering away as they ate their small snacks for their fifteen minute break. Sora just took to his bottle of water as he quickly tapped out his response.

**Sora: Jesus Kairi, I've already told you a million times what I see in you. You're just too fucking stubborn to see it because for years your family has beat it into your head that you're a terrible person when in actuality you're absolutely amazing!**

**Kairi: But I'm not. I think you're just in denial.**

Sora held back a frustrated sigh at this. He didn't want to fucking talk about this right now. He was tired and sore and he was not up to dealing with this bull shit, especially since they'd already had this conversation about a million times.

**Sora: I can't talk about this with you right now, I have to work.**

**Kairi: Are you mad now?**

Yeah, he fucking was, but he wasn't about to tell her that. He closed out of the app, making sure it was completely closed and not sucking up his battery life before he stuffed the phone back into his pants and sat back in his chair, staring at the tv as Craig Furguson was on.

After what surely had to have been a half hour rather than fifteen minutes, Sora was walking back to apparel. As he passed the men's underwear, he noticed something. The silver haired man he saw before his break was in there. It wasn't unusual for customers to still be roaming about the store after fifteen minutes. Actually, Sora was quite used to passing the same customer at least three times in one night. But the thing that struck him was that as he passed, the man stared at him. Just stared. It was unnerving to say the least.

He hurried back to where he was working, infront of the fitting rooms, and after putting back in his earbud, he got back to work. Slowly he started to relax, getting back into the rhythm of his work and shuffling about quickly as he separated all of the clothing in the buggies.

After only a few minutes, Sora started to feel as though he was being watched. Sure, technically he was seeing as they had cameras all over the store, but he could feel someone's eyes on him. He tried to ignore it at first, but when he turned around to place something in the basket he had for the men's clothing, he figured it out. That guy was in the men's department, watching him again. Sora swore his heart jumped into his throat as he saw the man. He stared at him for a moment, but as the man slowly raised a brow to him, he quickly looked back down at what he was doing.

_It's okay Sora. He'll leave soon, just keep working, and if anything happens, Leon's right outside apparel working pets. Leon won't let anything happen to you. _ Sora told himself as he slowly put down the shirts in his arms.

He quickly moved back to his pallet, grabbing another box to be processing. He easily pulled out his box cutter, flipping it in his hand like a ninja then, squeezing the trigger to reveal the blade, he zipped it across the tape on the box, efficiently slicing it. He dug his fingers into the small slit and pulled up, the tape on the sides snapping and opening the box to reveal it's contents. Jeans. Fucking men's jeans, as if he didn't already have enough of the fucking clothing. Slowly he was starting to forget about the man watching him, even though, in the back of his mind he was still very alert, and he started to slowly move his hips to the beat of the music playing loudly in his ear.

Jesus, he'd be so embarrassed if anyone actually saw him dancing about like this.

And that's when he remembered.

He looked over to the men's clothes, only to find the silverette was no longer there. He glanced around the rest of the area. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just racks and tables filled with clothes. He thanked god and relaxed, quickly getting back to his work.

* * *

><p>Sora sighed in relief, stretching his arms above his head, a way in hopes of trying to relieve the tightness of his back. It didn't. If anything it only made his back hurt even more.<p>

It was seven, he knew this much thanks to his father's text alerting him that he was there to pick him up. He eagerly headed out of the back of the store to after clocking out, heading as quickly as he could to the front door, his co workers bidding him farewell and one of his managers thanking him for his work. He nodded and smiled in turn till he finally made it out of the store.

His father sat right out front, waiting patiently. He smiled and started to make his way over, but that's when he saw him. He was off to the side, where most people stood when they came out here to smoke. He was just leaning against the wall, watching people enter and leave. The wind was blowing his long silver hair all about, and as Sora walked out, he looked up, aquamarine eyes locking onto him.

Sora stumbled slightly then stopped walking, looking at the man with wide eyes. Sora hadn't seen him since after his first break, he'd just assumed the man left. What the hell was he still doing here? Had he stood out there the whole night? It was fucking cold outside though, there's no way he could have stayed out there without becoming a fucking popsicle.

The man gave him that same confused look as he had earlier that night in the men's department, then suddenly he heard a horn blare, drawing him back to reality as he quickly looked to his father, gesturing for him to get in the car. Sora glanced back over to the man then quickly crossed the street, getting in the passengers side.

"You okay there?" His father asked as soon as the door shut.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Sora answered as he buckled himself. He looked back at the entrance as his father drove away, the man was gone though.

"How was work?" His father asked.

"Same as always." Sora muttered as he sank down into his seat. His eyes drooped as he stared out the windshield at the slowly lighting sky. There were clouds covering it, making it somewhat darker out, and he couldn't help but thank god for the winter. He slept through out the day, so the clouds covering the sky would keep the sun at bay and help him to sleep.

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><p>A week.<p>

It had been a bloody week since he'd first seen the silver haired man, and every night since then the man would be in the fucking clothing department, watching Sora for the first few hours he worked, then suddenly he'd disappear and Sora wouldn't see him again till the morning on his way out of work, where the man would be standing right outside the exit, fucking watching him leave.

Sora didn't know what to do. It was only at work that he ever saw the man, so he told himself that it didn't matter that much, but it was seriously starting to freak him out. He hadn't told any of his family, or his friends. Except Kairi. After the fourth night of seeing the man he'd messaged her, telling her he thought someone was stalking him at work. She'd told him good luck and Sora hadn't spoken to her sense. Seriously, what kind of response was that? What kind of bullshit?

Good luck with that, now I'm off to ignore your existence for another fucking week, see you later fucker!

What a fucking assholish move right? And yet he'd continue to fucking talk to her when they did speak again.

God he felt like a twat.

But anyways, back to supposed stalker. He was tempted to call the cops on the guy, but of course he made the retarded descision and decided to go confront the man to try and find out why he was stalking him.

He pushed his basket full of clothes over to the men's department, then, leaving it in one of the gaps between the racks, he marched over to the man. His nerve wavered slightly as he got closer, his fear of confrontation always trying to get the best of him. The man stayed stoic, and still like a statue as Sora approached him. He raised a brow in curiosity to the young boy though.

"Why are you watching me?" Sora asked in a calm yet somewhat stern tone. Up close, the man looked much younger than Sora had originally perceived. In fact, he seemed pretty close to the brunette's age.

"So you can see me." The man said, his brows drawing together in contemplation.

What?

"Of course I can see you! You're not invisible!" Sora said incredulously as he placed his hands on his hips.

"You never could before." He muttered. This definitely threw the young lad even more as he looked at the silverette confusedly.

"What are you talking about? Have you been watching me longer than a week?" Sora asked. If so, how had he never notice him before now?

"Sorry, but I have to be off. I'll see you later Sora." He said, turning around and beginning to walk away.

"Hey, wait! I'm not done talking to you!" Sora said, moving to grab the man's arm. Quickly though, he remembered the rule about not being allowed to grab customers like that and he retracted his hand.

"Shit." He cursed under his breath as he watched the man walk away.

"How do you know my name?!" Sora asked quickly. Thankfully, the man paused, turning to look back at Sora.

"You'll understand soon enough." He said with a smile that made shivers run down Sora's spine, then he turned and continued on his way, leaving Sora to watch his retreating form, dumbfounded by the events that just transpired.

A sharp whistle broke him from his trance and he turned to find his brother and Tidus walking toward him.

Leon nodded his head at Sora and said, "Lunch."

Sora slowly nodded then quickly followed after the two as they headed to the back to go clock out.


	2. Shotgun Shotgun Shotgun

_It's been a week. A week since I last saw him. I just can't figure it out. He's so confusing. First he watches me for a week, then when I confront him, he disappears for another week. Though I can't help wondering if maybe he is still watching me. From what he said, it sounded like he'd been watching me before. Though I've never seen him around, he could have been watching me before, and he could still be watching me. If this is all correct, it would make sense as to how he knows my name._

_But this doesn't help me feel any better. If anything, I'm just freaking out even more. I can't handle a stalker on top of everything else!_

_I'm like a walking panic attack, waiting to happen. If I have a break down at work, I don't know what I'm gonna do, but things won't end well..._

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><p>Sora waved to Vanitas as he hurried into Walmart, walking quickly so he wouldn't be late. Just as he was about to walk through the doors into the back, he saw something silver over by the milk. He stopped suddenly and back tracked slightly, but as he looked around the dairy, the man was no where to be seen.<p>

"I must be seeing things." He muttered to himself as he started walking once more. He pushed open the doors then stood by the lockers as he waited to clock in. It wasn't long before Leon appeared through the doors and joined Sora in his wait.

* * *

><p>Sora stood once more in apparel, going through a cart for overstock. He seriously knew this area too well.<p>

He was tossing item after item into the slowly filling cart when something moving caught his eye. Ever the curious one, he glanced up to see what had moved, only to do a double take as he saw a flash of silver. His eyes widened in horror and his breath caught in his throat as his eyes settled on the tall, slim figure of the man. His anxiety sky rocketed at the sight of the man, his aquamarine eyes locked onto Sora.

The brunet dropped the pack of underwear in his hands and hurried over to pets, where his brother was hard at work.

"Sora? Are you alright?" Leon asked as he saw Sora's fearful expression. Sora shook his head and quickly explained the situation to his brother, who slowly looked more and more angered by the information. He didn't question why Sora hadn't told him sooner though, thankfully, and quickly marched over towards the dressing room with Sora close behind. Though when they got there, the man was no where to be seen.

"I swear to god, he was right there." Sora said, pointing to the spot where the silveret stood when Sora had spotted him.

"I believe you. But he's gone now, so we should get back to work. Just let me know if you see him again, and when Vanitas comes to pick you up, I'll walk you out of the store." Leon said. Sora nodded sadly. He didn't like to think this guy was still wandering about the store, mostly in his department, but he didn't have much of a choice but to continue working.

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><p>That morning, Sora lay awake in bed, his brows drawn together as he stared pensively at the snowy white feather between his fingers.<p>

The man hadn't come back till early that morning as Sora was leaving. He was standing against the wall outside as he had before, but Sora tried to ignore him as he hurried over to Vanitas' roaring black truck with Leon. Swinging open the door, he swiftly pulled himself into the heated cab as Leon told Vanitas to take care of him, brushing off the snow from his shoulders and head that had fallen onto him. He quickly spun around in his seat to watch the man as Leon headed back inside to finish his work and Vanitas started to slowly drive, his tired brain not processing Sora's nonsense, nor the fact that he'd not buckled himself.

Slowly, the man started to become smaller with the distance that was slowly, yet all too quickly gaining between them.

Suddenly though, the man vanished before his now wide eyes, something white fluttering towards the ground in his place. Sora's eyes widened and he back handed his brothers shoulder, making Vanitas jump and look over irritatedly as Sora practically screamed at him to pull over.

Unthinkingly, Vanitas had slammed on the breaks, making the truck jerk sharply and causing Sora to fall out of his seat. He cringed as he hit the dashboard, but quickly recovered as he got up and flung himself out of the truck. Vanitas called after him as he sprinted through the snow and back to the entrance of the store, slowing as he came to the spot where the mysterious man once stood. He was breathing heavily as he looked around for the silveret, but of course he found nothing.

With a resigned sigh, he cast his gaze downward, now seeing a snowy white feather sticking up, out of the powdery substance. He bent down slowly, his bones and muscles screaming in protest, then picked up the feather, disregarding the diseases the feather could be carrying.

Then, the next thing he knew, he was being cursed at and commanded by Vanitas, the boy having pulled his truck back around to the entrance at Sora's sudden odd behavior.

Slowly he'd gotten back in, being sure to buckle himself as Vanitas went on a tangent about Sora's idiocy. Though he hardly listened as he was mesmerized by the white feather he held in his hands.

And he still was at this moment. He couldn't tell where it had come from. It definitely wasn't a feather from a bird though, that was for sure. This feather was softer. Whiter. And some how, lighter, if at all possible. It felt positively fragile in his hands, yet he couldn't seem to put it down.

He twirled it around between his fingers, looking curiously over the shimmering white of the feather in the dim glow of his lamp. The only sound in his room being that of his tv as it quietly played Futurama. Though Sora was completely tuned out to everything but this feather.

Soon, Vanitas reentered his room, all dressed for work as he grabbed his two hoodies from the closet. He raised a brow to the brunet as he placed his hands on his hips.

"You're not even watching this, why is it on?" He asked irritatedly as he gestured to the tv.

"I'm listening to it..." Sora mumbled, his gaze never moving from the feather between his fingers.

Vanitas scoffed and rolled his eyes as he slipped on his hoodies.

"Yeah, whatever. I hope you at least washed that feather. God only knows what kind of diseases it's carrying from that fucking bird it fell of off." Vanitas said, his face scrunching up in disgust as he watched Sora stroke the feather.

"It didn't come off of a bird." He said mindlessly as he continued his gentle strokes. He couldn't help but touch it at this point. It was so soft. Softer than silk. It amazed him how different this feather was. It was so unlike any other, he couldn't believe it.

"Then what did it come from smartie pants?" Vanitas questioned as he took on his condescending stance and gaze.

"An angel?" Sora suggested with a shrug. Vanitas snorted at the notion, a tick forming in Sora's brow at this.

"Wow So, just wow. I applaud your idiocy."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Sora snapped, finally looking at his brother with an angry pout.

"Look, I'd love nothing more than to sit here and continue listening to this ludacy, but sadly I have to go to work. See ya." Vanitas said, swiftly taking his leave as he narrowly missed being assaulted by a pillow.

"Bastard." Sora muttered as he sank back into his bed and continued to look over the feather, his annoyance with his brother quickly fading as he stared at the snowy white object. Maybe he didn't know what it came from, but he definitely knew it was that mystery man's feather. And whether angel or devil, he was definitely going to figure out what was going on here.

* * *

><p><em>Well, it's kind of odd to say, but that feather I found the other day, I found another. It was the weirdest thing, he wasn't even there from what I'd seen. I hadn't seen him the entire night. But as I was walking through men's I noticed it. Just sitting on the floor by one of the clothing racks. I'd immediately gone to pick it up, but when I looked at it, I found there was blood on it.<em>

* * *

><p>Sora's eyes were wide and fearful as he stared at the feather on the floor, his hand hovering just inches from it. He didn't know what to do. Walmart forbid employees from cleaning up blood without the proper equipment due to blood born pathogens, and his brain wasn't processing where that was located anymore. Then, not only did he not know who's blood this was, but if it was that mystery man's, he didn't know if he carried any kind of diseases. Could supernatural beings even get diseases?<p>

"Oh, there ya are." A familiar voice said. Sora quickly retracted his hand and turned to look at his manager, Cid.

"What are ya doin'?" He asked as he walked up and peeked over Sora's shoulder at the bloodied feather. The man instantly frowned at the sight.

"Shit. Hang tight for a minute, I'm gonna go get the supplies to clean this up. Make sure nobody touches it."

Sora nodded in understanding, then Cid ran off for the back room. Sora sighed, looking back to the feather pensively before getting to his feet. He gnawed at his lip for a moment, eyes still glued to the blood stained feather. But slowly they started to trail upwards as he noticed something glimmering on the floor. It was more blood, spread out between each drop, but there regardless, and Sora instantly became curious.

Was it a trail of blood?

If so, that meant there was more through out the store.

He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Cid to come back. When the blond haired man finally did reappear, he showed him the trail leading off into the store. With a sigh, he pulled up his goggles so to see better, and placed his hands on his hips.

"Go follow it real quick an' find out how far it goes. We might need to block off the whole area depending on how much there is." Cid instructed.

Sora nodded quickly in understanding, then hurried off after the bloodied path. Thus far, it lead him all the way outside, into the cold dark night, where he closely inspected the thin layer of snow on the ground as he tried to continue his journey, searching for the red droplets in the white powdery substance that covered the cement.

Soon enough though, his search came to an end as the trail stopped beside a trash can and a vending machine off to the side, and turned into a puddle of blood between the gap of said objects. Though of course, that wasn't all he found, as a certain silver haired man sat in the puddle. His head turned downwards, his fringe effectively covering half of his face. His jacket was just barely hanging around him as he curled into himself, though he seemed practically lifeless to the brunet.

Sora gawked at him for a moment before his brain kicked itself into gear once more. With a sharp intake of breath, he got to his knees in front of the silveret.

"Sir, look at me. Sir? Are you okay?" Sora said quickly, reaching his hands towards the man cautiously. They hovered shakily above him as he tried to figure out what to do.

"Sir, please talk to me." Sora pleaded. There was a quiet chuckle, then suddenly a fit of coughing before the man spoke up.

"I'm fine." He whispered in a raspy voice.

"You're not alright sir, you're bleeding out. We need to get you to the hospital immediately! I'll call an ambulance right now!" Sora said quickly as he reached for his phone. Though just as he pulled it out, a hand grabbed his wrist weakly.

"Please don't." He whispered, taking a deep breath before breaking into another coughing fit.

"Please, this happens more than you think. I'm fine, really. Besides, doctors can't help me. Their medicine doesn't work on my kind." He explained, breaking into more coughs from the strain. More than anything, Sora wanted to ask what the man's kind was, but he knew this wasn't the time for that.

"But sir-"

"Riku."

Sora blinked his eyes in surprise, then furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"You keep calling me sir." Another cough and a few deep breaths. "My name is Riku, not sir. You calling me sir-" a cough, "makes me feel pompous." The newly named 'Riku' explained weakly with a half hearted chuckle. Sora stared at him for a moment with wide, worried eyes, then slowly nodded, expression shifting to determination.

"Alright, Riku." Sora said, placing his hands on Riku's shoulders.

Riku looked up at this, his piercing aqua marine eyes locking onto Sora's deep oceanic eyes.

"I can't just leave you here to die. You need a doctor, now. Understood?" Sora explained, now giving the silveret his stern look. Riku stared at him for a moment, then slowly, a small smile started to pull at his lips.

"You know, you're pretty cute when you're being all stern like this." Riku said amusedly as he shakily touched his hand to Sora's cheek, the blood on it smearing against his tan skin. Sora blushed brightly at the compliment. He had no clue how to respond to that. How could he even be thinking about such a thing right now? He was on the verge of death for Christ sake!

Seemingly sensing Sora's bewilderment and utter loss for words though, Riku spoke up once more.

"Yeah, I understand. But you don't." Riku said, his expression suddenly pensive.

Sora raised his brow in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Before Riku could answer though, a bright light started to emit from the silveret, especially where he was wounded. He held his hand over the wound though as a look of pure pain etched itself onto his features. Sora froze, unsure of what to do as the light surrounding the male got brighter and brighter. Just when it seemed almost blindingly bright, making Sora squint just to see, it started to dim, fading until it was just as dark as before it had started.

Riku's expression started to soften as he took a deep, sharp breath. Sora looked up at this with wide curious eyes. Riku panted softly as he released his wound. Or at least, where his wound used to be.

"See? All better." Riku said with a small smile, though his voice was still raspy. Sora stared at the healed skin with wide eyes.

"C... Can I... touch it?" Sora asked slowly. Riku looked at him in surprise then slowly nodded, moving so that Sora could easily touch the healed skin.

With a cautious, shaky hand, Sora reached out and brushed his fingers across gently, feeling his muscles twitch at his touch.

"How is that possible?" Sora asked curiously.

"Miracles happen everyday Sora." Riku said with a soft smile.

Sora stared at him for a moment as he continued rubbing his fingers across Riku's stomach. The silveret's stomach was smooth and firm to the touch, but as this realization hit him, Sora quickly withdrew his hand, looking off as a dark blush burst across his cheeks.

"I don't understand. Who are you?"

Riku shook his head as he slowly got to his feet.

"You will soon enough Sora. I promise. But not yet." He said, holding out his hand to help Sora to his feet. Slowly, Sora grasped his hand and was pulled to his feet. His legs were wobbly from having sat on them, but he managed to stay steady.

"I need to get going. I'll see you later Sora." Riku said, using a clean part of his sleeve to wipe off the blood he'd smudged on Sora's cheek and wrist. With a slight nod, he walked off, waving slightly as he walked away. Sora watched his retreating form until it disappeared into the dark of the night.

After a moment, Sora hurried back into the warmth of the store, hurriedly making his way back to apparel where Cid continued to await the brunet.

"You sure took yer time. How far does it go?" Cid asked as he was cleaning up the spot where the blood stained feather lay.

"All the way outside... To a puddle of blood by the vending machines." Sora said quietly. Cid's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot straight up.

"Are you serious?"

Sora slowly nodded, making Cid sigh and shake his head.

"We're gonna have to close the store." He muttered as he got to his feet.

After that, the store had indeed been closed, any customers ushered out as the police were called to the scene. Sadly, Sora and Cid had to give statements of what they knew, though of course it wasn't much. The only problem Sora was having was whether or not to tell them about Riku. After all, he was the one bleeding. But he'd healed himself some how, and there was no way the cops would believe any of that.

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><p><em>In the end, I decided against telling the police about Riku. After all, they'd just think me nuts for that story, especially since I didn't take him to the hospital and I'd have to explain how he'd healed himself. They wouldn't buy such a story. I just hope they don't go looking on the security camera's and see me talking to Riku. <em>

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><p><strong>I know my updates aren't going to be all that frequent, so I'm just going to tell you that now. I do have work and such after all. But I'm gonna try really hard to focus on updating this, because I'm really enjoying it :)<strong>

**So, yeah there's that news. Also, I was thinking about actually using Disney characters in this. Everyone would be humanized, but I think it would be more fun, and it's not really something I've seen too often. So, let me know your thoughts :)**

**Thanks for those who reviewed and favorited/followed! I love all you guys! See ya next update!**


	3. Get Out Your Guns

_ I can't sleep. I can't erase that image from my head. Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is him, sitting on the cold ground, bloodied, weak and struggling just to speak. I don't know why this is bothering me so much. It's definitely not the blood, I've seen much worse in my time with all the horror movies I've watched and video games I've played, those things don't scare me._

_But if it's not that, then that would mean it's him right? Seeing him like that, practically lifeless. Why does that scare me so much? Why would I care? He's a stalker right? You're not supposed to care about your stalker, you're supposed to call the police on them and get restraining orders. Right?_

_God... I don't know anymore._

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><p>Riku sat atop the roof of Sora's house, keeping a look out as he also watched over the restless boy worriedly. He watched as Sora flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling wearily in his restlessness. Though of course, sleep was continuing to evade him at the moment. A sad fact for the young adult.<p>

Riku, of course, felt guilty though as he thought it was partly his fault. In a sense, he felt selfish, regardless of the fact that it wasn't really his fault. He couldn't avoid getting injured, just as he couldn't avoid getting attacked in the first place. But he'd gone and sat in such an obvious spot. He could have hidden away on the roof or something till his wound healed. But no, he'd gone to sit where Sora could find him. And that made him feel selfish. He involved him, simply to see him. To talk to him, because it was something he'd always wished to do.

He wished he could help the boy, but he had no clue how.

* * *

><p>Sora was beyond tired. He hadn't slept at all that morning because all he could think about was Riku, nor had he eaten yet today cause he'd some how managed to lose his apatite just thinking of the silveret, so his energy levels were way down as he sat, exhausted at work. He seriously needed to get his energy levels up, but sadly that wouldn't be possible until midnight.<p>

"Hey sweet pea." A familiarly smooth, sultry voice said behind Sora. He quickly spun around, surprise clear on his face as he saw Riku, seated on the counter where the dressing rooms computer and phone sat. He had his legs crossed and his palms flat against the smooth counter top as he smirked down at Sora. He was dressed simply in a faded blue sweater with dark baggy grey jeans, the ends tucked into his black combat boots. His long silver locks were pulled back into a loose ponytail, but his fringe still hung down in his eyes, concealing most of the aqua green color.

"What are you doing?!" Sora asked, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Helping you out." He said as though it should have been obvious. Sora's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you talking about? And get off of there, you're going to get me in trouble!"

Riku looked slightly surprised, but he easily hopped off the counter, taking a couple steps so he'd be right in front of Sora.

"You're exhausted right now, I know you are. So, I brought you something." He said, reaching into his pockets, he pulled out an energy drink and a six pack of peanut butter crackers. Sora's eyes lit up at the sight.

"It's not much, and probably not that good for you, but at least it's something right?" He said with a soft smile. Sora looked up at him in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Y-you didn't have to." Sora said awkwardly, a blush spreading across his cheeks as he slowly took the offered items, his hands brushing against Riku's warm ones.

"Yes I did."

Sora's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

Riku paused for a moment, seemingly thinking it over as he shrugged slightly.

"It's my job to protect you. Even if I have to protect you from yourself sometimes." Riku explained with a smirk as he lightly knocked his knuckles against the brunet's forehead. Sora pouted as he pulled back in an attempt to stop the friendly assault.

"As usual, you still make little to no sense. You keep telling me I'll understand soon enough, well why don't you just explain everything to me already so I can understand? So you can save me the time and aggravation of trying to figure it out myself?" Sora questioned challengingly. Though Riku's smirk simply widened to show his cheekiness.

"Because that's not nearly as much fun." He said amusedly. Sora could have face palmed at the utter amusement Riku found in his confusion.

"Besides, haven't you already figured out most of it already?"

Sora blinked in surprise, looking up at him curiously. Was he confirming his suspicions?

"Are you saying...?" Sora questioned in awe. Riku shrugged though, looking nonchalant.

"I'm not saying anything. Just to be patient." He said with a smile, patting Sora on the head, then turned on his heel to leave.

"Are you leaving?" Sora asked. Riku turned back and nodded.

"You'll get in trouble if I'm here distracting you all night. But don't worry, I'm always near."

Sora paused for a moment, looking around at the floor.

"Just... Don't get hurt again okay?"

Riku blinked in surprise, his eyes widening at Sora's concern. After a moment, he nodded, his expression becoming determined.

"I won't. I promise."

Riku left after that, leaving Sora to continue his work.

* * *

><p><em>Kairi messaged me today. I didn't know what to say to her though, so I went for a walk. Heh, some walk it was. Terrifying, and yet enthralling. And I finally found out what Riku is. Or at least, confirmed what I already thought he was.<em>

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><p><strong>Kairi: My shitty friends ask for my shitty relationship advice, then ignore it. -.-<strong>

That was the message he'd received during work. A few days had passed since he'd last seen Riku, when the male had given him the energy drink and crackers, but he hadn't been able to get him out of his head since. It was odd to think who he believed was a stalker at first had become this mind consuming mystery. But, back to Kairi.

He'd received the message at work, but had taken to ignoring it, decidedly not wanting to deal with the girl. He found himself rather irritated by her recently. It's not that he didn't still care for her, he definitely did, but he some how felt used. She had no problem admitting that she cared so little for him or that she was lonely and that's why she was talking to him. Sora couldn't stand this abuse, but he had no clue how to tell her just that. So he figured he'd just ignore her till he figured things out.

Thankfully, today was his day off, so he had time to just sit and think. Or, walk and think. It was nice and chilly out and the sky was cloudy, a mirror of his thoughts. It was nice to just take a walk though and be by himself for a while without having to worry about getting all of his work done.

Sora sighed, running a hand through his messy spikes, his music pounding through his head phones and into his ears. His ears were definitely going to be ringing later, but for now, he was happily listening to Simon Curtis sing about letting the beat drop. Slowly, he brought his gaze up from the pavement as he was nearing his house. That's when he saw him.

His eyes widened as he let out a gasp.

"Riku?" He called out.

The silveret looked up curiously from the phone in his hands. He gave the boy a small wave before continuing what he was doing on his phone. Sora sighed, rushing over to where Riku stood, placing his hands on his hips as he looked up at the male.

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked.

"Watching you." Riku answered simply as his fingers flew across the screen of his phone, tapping in letters quickly as he wrote up his message to god knows who.

"Why?"

"It's my job."

"How did you even find my house? Did you follow me home?"

Riku chuckled, shaking his head.

"Please Sora, you should know better. I've always known where you live. I know everything about you." Riku said, putting away his phone.

"That sounds really creepy." Sora said exasperatedly.

Riku smirked, ruffling his hair.

"It's the truth. I've known you your entire life Sora."

Before Sora could question him once more, the door to his house opened, and out came his mother, immediately calling to him.

"Sora! Who are you talking to?!" She called from the front door. Sora sighed once more, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"He's my friend mom! Just go back in the house!" Sora said, waving her off.

"But who is he?! I've never seen him before!" She hollered. Sora sighed, shoulders drooping. The reason for the third degree was due to the fact that Sora's whole family now knew he had a stalker because after telling Leon, his brother had told his mother who then announced it to everyone. Needless to say, everyone was on red alert as their over protectiveness was at an all time high.

"His name is Riku! Just go inside and we'll talk later!" Sora called back, frantically gesturing for her to go inside.

"Fine! But you're not getting off the hook!" She said before going back inside, shutting the door, but watching him from one of the front windows.

"Sorry about that, she's a bit..." Sora said, trailing off awkwardly.

"Over protective? I know, I've seen."

Sora glanced back to his house, his mother, Vanitas and sister Aerith peering out of the window now.

"Come on, let's walk away before my entire family is gawking at us through the window." Sora said, leading the silveret down the sidewalk.

"What are you doing at my house anyways?"

"My job. I'm keeping an eye on you, making sure nothing happens to you." At this point, Riku was reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone and reading over the message he'd received before rolling his eyes and stuffing the device back in his pocket.

"I still don't understand you." Sora said as he looked off at the houses lining the street.

"You will. Very soon." Riku said with a smirk.

"How soon?" Sora asked, a smirk of his own breaking his features.

"Very."

Sora huffed at the response. He hated how vague he was about everything.

As the pair reached the street corner, Riku stopped, making Sora pause and look back at him curiously.

"What's wrong?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a large gust of wind blew through, pushing Sora harshly as if it wanted to make him fly away and ruffling his hair. Through squinted eyes, he looked up at Riku. He was just standing there as if nothing was happening, but his expression was pensive as he stared off down the road, his hair being blown about in all directions from the wind. The wind calmed slowly, but only just enough for Sora to open his eyes and properly see Riku.

"Come here." He said, keeping his gaze on the street ahead of him. Sora looked down the street to see what he was looking at, but he couldn't see anything suspicious.

"What?" Sora questioned, looking back to Riku curiously.

Rather than answering the brunet, he quickly grabbed him and pulled him flush against his chest. Then, before Sora could even process what was happening, feathery snow white wings burst out of Riku's back and he quickly flew into the sky, shooting them straight up. Sora's breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened considerably. He didn't know how to react to this. He looked up at Riku, said man simply looking upwards as he continued to soar. Slowly, he allowed his eyes to travel downward, though he immediately regretted it.

It wasn't vertigo that got him, Sora was hardly afraid of heights.

What caused this regret was a giant black monster with what appeared to be long orange hair and cuffs around the things large wrists. Suddenly, the monster looked up at them, glowing yellow eyes and mouth dripping with whatever yellow stuff was seeping out.

It let out a loud, shrill, shriek, startling Sora and making him jump in Riku's arms.

"Shit, don't do that." Riku said as his grip slipped slightly.

"What the fuck is that?!" Sora asked, alarmed by the beast still and gripping Riku's shirt.

"Don't look at it. Just calm down and look at me." Riku commanded, though his voice was soothing through the sternness. Looking up with wide panicked eyes, Riku's aqua green eyes met Sora's deep ocean blue with a gentle kindness, instantly melting the brunet and completely drawing his attention to him rather than the monster.

Suddenly, they flew into the thick layer of clouds covering the sky, the two now surrounded by the grey white fluff. Sora gasped, looking around with wide, curious eyes. Riku smirked in amusement at the boy's amazement and looked upwards once more to watch where he was going. After a moment, they finally broke through the clouds. Above them was the clear blue sky as the sun sat on the horizon.

"Woah..." Sora breathed out his awe of the beautiful scene as he unknowingly gripped tighter to Riku.

"Nice huh?" Riku muttered with a smirk, Sora nodding in agreement.

Sora then heard another loud screech from the monster, quickly followed by them being thrown backwards as the beast burst through the clouds. Riku managed to skid to a halt on his feet, though Sora and Riku were now a good ten feet apart as the brunet laid face down in the fluffy white clouds. This of course surprised him as he had expected to fall through the clouds, though he didn't have long to think about it as the beast let out another deafening shriek and started after Sora. The male tried to quickly get to his feet, but some how, it became a struggle for him as his arms shook from his weight.

"Shit." Sora breathed out as he looked up at the beast that was quickly approaching him on all fours. Just as he came within the monsters reach, it made to swing it's arm at him, but it suddenly screeched as it's arm severed and fell to the clouds. Riku now floating in front of Sora, held what looked like a sword in the shape of a bat wing with an angel's wing on the top over his head as his other hand stretched out before him in a beckoning manner.

"Sora, do me a favor, and don't move." Riku said sternly. Sora stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded his understanding.

Riku flew towards the beast, said monster swinging his other arm right at Riku. The silveret used the air as though it were a solid surface, swiftly launching himself over the monster. As he landed the beasts other arm fell off. It screeched once more and spun around, barreling towards Riku. He stood there, completely still as he kept his eye trained on the beast. As it came a couple feet away from him, he launch himself at the beast's chest, tearing straight through it and coming out the other side like a bullet. He landed before Sora, kneeling as the monster screamed once more before falling to the ground, pieces of the monster tearing away from it's body as they floated into the air, then in a bright flash of light, the monster vanished and Sora watched as a heart floated upwards from where the monster had been.

Sora's eyes were wide and his jaw dropped as he watched this occur.

"Sora!" Riku called out from where he knelt, but he quickly started after him. Sora was quickly dragged from his stupor at this. The clouds suddenly gave way as they no longer held him up, and he quickly started to fall. He couldn't talk, scream anything as all reasoning left his brain, he had no clue what to do.

As Sora broke through the thick layer of clouds, he slowly looked over his shoulder to see he was hurtling towards the ground. Riku broke through the clouds moments after, speeding towards him.

"Sora!" He called out once more, reaching his hand out towards the boy. All he could do though was watch Riku as he continued to reach for him. Finally though, Riku managed to reach him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him upwards quickly so he could hold Sora against him. Sora let out a small gasp as he made contact with Riku's chest, and he instinctively gripped his shirt. Slowly, Riku brought them to the ground, landing in the alley behind Sora's house so no one could see. Slowly, he placed Sora on his feet, though he kept his arms around him, telling himself he was just making sure the boy kept his balance.

"That was..." Sora started quietly, trailing off.

"Scary?" Riku asked, looking at him with a mixture of worry and grief in his eyes. Sora nodded slightly and Riku sighed, brushing Sora's fringe from his eyes.

"I'm sorry. That was stupid of me, to bring you up there." Riku said quietly, voice full of shame.

"It's okay." Sora said, voice suddenly much stronger as he smiled up at Riku. He looked at him curiously as Sora continued.

"I know you were just trying to protect me. It's okay. I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt me." Sora smiled reassuringly, surprising Riku.

"You've only known me a couple weeks, how do you know I wouldn't hurt you?" Riku asked, regardless that he already knew Sora was right. The brunet's smile widened.

"If you wanted to hurt me you would have done so already." Sora said smugly as he stepped away from Riku and started to make his way down the alley. He paused though, turning back to Riku with a grin.

"Besides, why would my Guardian Angel try to hurt me?"


	4. Battle's Begun

**Danny: Thank you so much hun, I really appreciate your lovely comments. It is unfortunate that more have not read this, but so long as even just a few people enjoy this, I'm content. As a long time writer here on FF, I've come to understand many things, and one of which is that people will always read a story, no matter the quality, from the sheer fact of how quickly it updates and how many reviews it has. I've seen absolute shit excuses of stories with hundreds of reviews and it completely boggles my mind, but the moment I see when it started, the amount of chapters and the most recent update, I understand why. It's not about quality, it's practically a popularity contest on here, even FF understands that, and that's why when your filtering, you can choose to filter by reviews. It's truly sad when the shitty stories get all the attention and the good ones have to suffer.**

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><p>Riku smiled to himself as he leisurely strolled down the street. He was in the upper, more poverty stricken part of the city as he headed for his apartment complex. The streets were mostly abandoned, save for the children out playing together in the snow, as there wasn't much for them to do inside their homes. Of course, only Riku could see the young angels watching over the children from above as an elder Angel made sure they did their jobs correctly and understood what they were doing. The sky was still dark and cloudy from the cold weather, making this part of the city look more gloomy than it actually was, though it couldn't dampen Riku's mood.<p>

"Riku!" A familiarly cheerful voice called out to the silveret. Riku looked over curiously and found an older man, who was much taller and lanky, dressed in a red winters jacket with a green scarf and hat combo. His black hair just peeking out the bottom. He had a long face with bright green eyes, and stubble on his chin. There were slight bags under his eyes, showing how tired he was.

"Goofy? What's up?" Riku asked curiously.

"Ah-yuck, Mickey's not happy with you, Riku." Goofy said disappointedly. Riku's brows furrowed in confusion and he looked questioningly at the older male.

"What did I do?" He asked confusedly.

* * *

><p>Riku laid on his bed, his arms propping up his head as he stared pensively at the water stained ceiling of his studio apartment.<p>

_"Riku, you broke the rules." _Mickey's high pitched voice rang through his head.

Riku grit his teeth, eyes narrowing as the voice continued on.

_"I wish it didn't have to be this way." _He'd said disappointedly. Riku knew he was, but that didn't make him feel any better about the situation.

He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hands into fists, gripping his hair tightly from the action.

_"As punishment, you won't be allowed to watch over Sora for a month."_

"Dammit!" Riku cursed loudly, turning quickly in his bed and slamming his fist into the wall. The force creating a crater in the cement as several cracks now stemmed from the area. Riku absently looked away and his jaw loosened slightly. After a moment, he let his hand drop back onto the bed as he started to relax.

A month without Sora... How was that even possible? The cheerful brunet was literally the only reason he was alive. Riku's sole purpose was to watch over and protect him. If he couldn't do that, then what was he supposed to do?

* * *

><p>It had been a month since Sora last saw Riku, which, in his opinion, felt like an eternity filled with anguish and anxiety. He was brimming with about a million questions, and if he didn't get some answers he felt as though he might explode. But he also felt that some how he might have offended the silver haired male when he'd last seen him. All in all, Sora was overly worried for no real reason, and he couldn't understand why.<p>

Though, of course, when he finally did see Riku, all of this was the farthest thing from his mind.

Sora stood in front of one of the dressing room doors, key in hand as he made to unlock it. He regretted this immediately though.

"Boo!" Riku said as the door swung open to revealed the man.

"Oh my god!" Sora yelled, jumping backwards as his fists came up instinctively to attack. He thankfully managed to stop himself before he could punch the other. Once his brain processed that it was Riku, he let out a breath of relief as he visibly relaxed and lowered his arms.

Riku covered his mouth as he tried not to laugh at Sora's reaction, though the amusement was painfully clear in his eyes.

"That wasn't funny." Sora said with a pout forming as he crossed his arms.

"I'm not laughing." Riku said, voice strained as he continued to cover his mouth.

Sora rolled his eyes.

"Please, I know you're smiling behind your hand." Sora countered.

"I am not."

Sora placed his hands on his hips as he looked suspiciously at Riku.

"Yeah, then why don't you move your hand?"

Riku took a breath, then slowly moved his hand, showing only seriousness in his expression. He allowed a smirk to break his features though as his eyes pierced Sora.

"See? Not smiling." He said smugly.

Sora rolled his eyes once more as he shook his head, though he couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips.

That's when Riku broke though, grinning widely and bubbling with laughter.

"Sorry." Riku said quickly as he placed his hand back over his mouth. Sora nodded, crossing his arms over his chest once more.

"Mhm you're an asshole." Sora said simply as he turned away from Riku, making him chuckle to himself at Sora's childish attitude.

Riku shoved his hands in his pockets as he smirked at the brunet.

"Please, you love it."

Sora rolled his eyes again as he placed his hands on his hips and shook his head.

"What do you want Riku?" Sora asked with a raised brow, though there was a warm smile playing on his lips as he looked up into Riku's aquamarine eyes with his own deep, shining blue eyes. Riku found himself admiring the boy's face. It was more rounded than his own, making him look younger than he was, his smile sweet and endearing as he showed off his beautifully white teeth, his eyes shining with affection and happiness as he looked up at Riku and, regardless of the recently cloudy skies and Sora's night shift schedule, his skin still held it's usual tan from his time spent in the sun. A handsome young man he had grown to be, he could have any girls heart in a second. Though Riku knew the brunet was after only one girl's affections, regardless of how she felt of him.

"What do I ever want, Sora? I'm just here to do my job." Riku said with a shrug, the boy's smile fading at his words.

"Is another one of those beasts going to attack?" He asked curiously, trying to seem nonchalant, though the worry was evident in his demeanor. His eyebrows pinched together slight as he gnawed at his bottom lip, his arms still crossed, but his hands shaking slightly as he gripped his arms, hoping his tremors would be less noticeable by doing so, his foot started to tap against the floor either in his impatience or in hopes of calming himself with the rhythmic beat of his toe tapping against the floor.

Riku shook his head to dispel the younger's fears.

"Not tonight no, but in the next day or two. Though, it won't be a beast as large as that one. It should just be a couple small fries, no big deal." Riku explained with a shrug.

Sora visibly calmed as he looked confusedly at Riku.

"Then why are you here?"

Riku frowned, placing his hands on his hips.

"Geez, I didn't know I was so unwelcome." Riku said flatly as he turned away from Sora.

Sora blinked in surprise, processing what Riku said. As realization set in, he gasped and quickly tried to fix it.

"T-That's not it! You're welcome here Riku, I just don't understand! Normally something happens when I see you! I just didn't understand till most recently, because, well you know." Sora explained quickly, hoping he hadn't hurt the other boy by insinuating he didn't want him there. At first he hadn't, he'd actually been terrified by him. But recently, he found himself wanting to see Riku more and more, and he was excited when he did. His stomach actually fluttered when he'd see him.

Riku chuckled, shaking his head slightly as he smiled down at Sora.

"It's alright Sora, I get it." Riku said, calming the boy as he let out a relieved sigh. Sora stood there awkwardly though after his relief faded, still curious as to what Riku was doing there, but not wanting to offend him by asking him once more why he was there.

"I just wanted to see you." Riku said, understanding Sora's sudden awkwardness and deciding to relieve him of that by showing that he was alright with his curiosity.

Sora looked up in surprise, a blush slowly forming on his face as Riku's words processed in his brain, but quickly, a smile came to join it.

"Really?" He asked hopefully. Riku nodded to affirm Sora's questioning, but this seemed to only bring him a harder question to answer as Sora placed his hands on his hips and looked at Riku with a mix of confusion and seriousness.

"Then where have you been for a month?" Sora asked, the slightest twinge of anger and hurt to his tone.

Riku blinked in surprise at the question, but looked off to the side, brows drawn together as he frowned somewhere between the wall of the dressing room and the wood covered floor, his hand rubbing his neck nervously.

"I got in a bit of trouble. No big deal, it just kept me away for a bit." Riku explained, though, in a sense, he hadn't really explained anything.

Sora pouted slightly, raising a brow as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I thought guardian angels weren't supposed to leave their human unattended?" Sora challenged.

"Hey, I never said I was a guardian angel." Riku immediately wanted to slap himself as soon as the words left his mouth. That was the most ridiculous counter, and even Sora didn't buy it as he stared deadpanned at the silveret.

"There's just a lot you don't know about us okay?" Riku said, hoping to at least regain some dignity and get those deep blue orbs to show some kind of other emotion.

Sora seemed to lighten at this, shifting his demeanor and looking curiously up at Riku.

"So tell me more."

Riku would have been more than happy to oblige, if not for the fact that he'd just gotten in trouble for the very same thing and had only just been relieved of his punishment that very day. In fact, the moment he'd been told his punishment was over he'd rushed to go check on the brunet. He, of course, could sense the impending danger heading for Sora, but that had nothing to do with how much he'd wanted to see the other. After all, he'd watched over Sora his whole life. Being away from him for a month, knowing that danger was headed for the boy and he could do nothing but sit in his apartment and hope whoever was protecting him for a month would do a well enough job of keeping him safe, that was absolute torture for a guardian angel. So he'd immediately come to check on him once his punishment was over.

"I really wish I could, Sora, but-" Riku was interrupted as he heard a familiar scratching noise. His eyes darkened as his brows pinched together.

That wasn't right. They weren't supposed to be here yet. Riku should have had at least a day before they showed up.

"Riku?" Sora questioned curiously as the other boy stopped talking, moving to place a hand on his arm.

"I have to go." Riku said quickly, moving to leave the area and hunt down the monsters before they could get to Sora.

"W-Wait, what? Where are you going?" Sora asked quickly, grabbing Riku's arm.

"I don't have time right now Sora. I'll explain later." Riku said, trying to tug his arm from Sora's grasp, though he only tightened his grip, looking pensively at the silveret.

"Promise?"

Riku stared at those wide, worried blue eyes for a moment, surprise evident on his face, but his expression turned serious suddenly as he nodded.

"Yeah, I promise." He said. After a second, Sora slowly released his arm, and Riku hurried off, leaving Sora alone once more to get back to his work. Though, he didn't know if he could as he was once more consumed with worry.

* * *

><p>Later that morning, Sora sat on his bed, watching Family guy from his awkward position on his back. He laid so his head hung over the edge, making his TV appear upside down to him as his eyes were glazed over with boredom. At this point, it was simply just white noise to him. Something to make him appear occupied, even though, in actuality, his mind was completely consumed with thoughts of Riku. He hadn't seen him since he had spooked him earlier that night, and to put it simply, he was beyond worried.<p>

Sora was completely lost in his thoughts by this point, his mind so far gone that he didn't notice the odd scratching and hissing noises filling his room or the dimming of his lamp as the darkness tried to consume the light.

Sora's mouth opened wide as he started to yawn, stretching his arms and legs to loosen his tense muscles. As he did so, something flew right over his stomach and stuck into his wall. With a small poof of black whisps, Sora gasped and jumped slightly, though not much as he noticed a bat wing shaped sword stuck in the wall right over his stomach.

Sora's eyes widened and his breathing quickened to the point where they were just short gasps. The sword suddenly vanished though in a burst of light, but Sora's panic held firm as a small black creature with glowing yellow eyes suddenly jumped at him.

Though, in the next second, it was bursting into black whisps as a tiny heart flew up from where the creature had previously been. Sora gasped once more, his eyes quickly flicking upwards to see his saviour. He relaxed slightly as he saw Riku standing before him.

Riku quickly spun on his heel, swinging his blade and slicing through another creature, though this one looked different from the other two and disappeared in a burst of life. This creature was tall and scarily thin with a large head. The creature's mouth came to a point and instead of teeth, the creature had a zipper that currently sat open so Sora could see the dark grey orb like thing in the back of the things throat.

He spun around the room and sliced through several more of the creatures.

When the last one finally disappeared, Riku quickly turned towards Sora, looking him over with concern.

"Are you alright?"

Sora stared at him for a moment longer before quickly clambering off his back and onto his knees with wide eyes.

"What the fuck just happened?!" Sora screamed, chest heaving as he looked around his room, now clear of any unwanted inhabitants.

"I..." Riku started, looking around the room slightly with worry evident on his face.

"I don't know..." He finished, looking to the completely shocked Sora.

Sora's mouth opened slightly as he stared at Riku in bewilderment. He didn't know? How could he not know?! It was his job to know!

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sora asked confusedly, lowering his tone as he spoke.

"I mean... This shouldn't have happened. They shouldn't have attacked twice in one night, and they definitely shouldn't have been able to just appear in your room." Riku said, the concern clear in his voice. His expression quickly became suspicious though as he looked at Sora.

"You weren't thinking about anything bad were you?" He questioned suspiciously. He knew the boy hadn't been physically doing anything, and he'd have seen if Sora was doing something bad, but he couldn't hear Sora's thoughts, he wasn't capable of doing that. And having sinful thoughts were as bad as the sin itself, or so they were told.

"I was thinking about you...?" Sora said slowly, the confusion evident in his voice. Riku raised a brow, baffled by this as he unknowingly blushed a light pink. Sora caught the pink tinge staining his cheeks though and his cheeks heated up as well, though his were red, unlike Riku's. Sora threw his hands infront of him, palm side out at he waved them around franticly.

"N-Not like that! I just...! I hadn't seen you since you took off earlier, and I had some things I wanted to ask you, plus I wanted to make sure you were okay and and... Oh my god I can't believe this is happening, I'm just going to crawl under my blanket and die of embarrassment now." Sora explained quickly in his panic. As he finished talking he grabbed his blanket and pulled it over his body as he curled into himself.

Riku blinked a couple times as he was still trying to process everything Sora had said. The moment it all sunk in though, the silveret's flush darkened as he realized what Sora was implying. He stood there frozen for a moment, unsure of how to react. Should he be upset? Should he be freaking out?

Though as he looked at the ball like lump under Sora's bedding, he knew he didn't have time for either. Sora appeared to be mortified right now. He needed him, and as his guardian angel, it was his job to be there for him. Whether it be protecting him from harm, or simply easing his troubles in an awkward situation, it was his job. And getting upset wouldn't help anything.

So, Riku took a deep breath to calm his own embarrassment, pushing it all to the back of his mind as he stepped over to Sora's bed. Getting down on his knees, he gently placed a hand on the blanket and gave it a light tug. Sora appeared to be gripping it tightly though, and Riku sighed in exasperation, though he couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Sora, it's okay." Riku started, placing his hand on the boy's head. "I understand what you meant."

Sora moved slowly, poking his head out of the blanket, he regarded Riku curiously with wide ocean blue eyes that sparkled like the sun.

"Really?"

Riku smiled and nodded. Sora sighed in relief, pushing his blanket down to his waist and sitting up, now having to look down to see him.

"From the look on your face, I had just thought that you thought I was thinking about you..." Sora trailed off, gesturing with his hands in hopes that Riku would understand what he was trying to say.

The gesturing didn't help.

Though it would take a pure bread idiot to not understand what the boy was insinuating, and Riku couldn't help but smirk.

"Sexually?"

Sora's cheeks flushed red once more, but he slowly nodded.

"A good angel wouldn't allow those kinds of thoughts to cross their mind." Riku said with a shrug as he sat back on Sora's floor, propping himself up on his hands, his legs now crossed Indian style.

"So," Sora started slowly, allowing himself to think this through. "You've never thought of sex?"

Riku seemed to ponder the question for a moment then shrugged.

"I never said I was a good Angel now did I?" Riku said with a devious smirk, a hint of mischief in his voice, as he winked at Sora. The brunet giggled in response.

"I guess there's some truth to that. After all, I never imagined I would hear an angel curse."

Riku's smile widened, though he continued to look thoughtful.

"Even angels sin sometimes Sora. We are no more perfect than humans. We just have more self restraint. Well, most of us anyways. But knowledge can be a difficult burden to bare. That's why God never-" Riku was explaining until Sora's voice interrupted him.

"Riku."

The silveret looked up curiously at this.

"If I wanted to listen to a bible lesson I'd go to church." Sora said amusedly. Riku blinked in surprise, but nodded in understanding.

"Sorry, force of habit." Riku said a bit awkwardly. Though he actually wasn't in the habit of explaining Christianity. In actuality he wanted to buy himself a bit more time with Sora, though he wouldn't admit to that.

Sora smiled though and shook his head slightly.

"It's alright. I think it's cute how passionate you are." Sora said. Riku froze though, looking up at him with wide eyes. He didn't know how to respond to that.

He'd been passionate when he was a child, so intrigued by everything he had to learn to keep his job as Sora's guardian angel, but as time went on, and he saw the world for what it was, it was hard to keep hold of that passion. He'd lost a lot of his drive over the many years that he had watched Sora suffer and struggle through the days. It made him believe a little less in God's goodness. And yet, some how the brunet had always managed to keep a smile on his face, regardless of his hardships. He admired the boy's strength, but he couldn't forgive God for what he'd been through.

Sora was looking at him curiously at this point. Riku's expression was relaxed as he stared at nothing in particular, his eyes glazed over as if he were in some sort of trance. Sora could help but worry about him.

"Riku?" He said slowly, hoping that would get his attention, but as he continued to stare off into space, Sora sighed in exasperation. He placed his hand in front of Riku's face, waving it around for a moment then starting to snap his fingers.

"Riku! What the hell's wrong with you?"

Finally, Riku blinked, shaking his head slightly as he looked up at Sora confusedly.

"What?" Riku asked in a quiet tone, making Sora sigh and shake his head.

"Man, you scared me for a minute there. Are you alright?" Sora asked, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Yeah. I guess I just got a bit lost in my thoughts." Riku said quietly as he looked at the floor with an unreadable mix of emotions. Sora stared at him worriedly for a moment before putting on a smile, determined to cheer the other boy up.

"Yeah, well next time, I'm just gonna knock you in the head." Sora said, knocking his knuckles against Riku's head lightly as he grinned widely at the silveret. Riku looked up, a bit taken aback by the gesture, but quickly a smile formed on his own face.

"Heh... Alright. You go ahead and do that." Riku said, looking fondly at Sora.

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><p><strong>The designs of the humanized Disney characters (Mickey Mouse, Goofy, ect.) are the works of chacckco on deviantart. A very talented artist who is very deserving of your love, so do go visit their gallery.<strong>


	5. Are You a Saint or a Sinner?

**_Danny: Indeed they are! And it only gets deeper in this chapter! Well, it's kind of both. Things will be more explained in this chapter, even if it kind of feels like filler for now, but eh, I guess I just feel like I write a lot of filler XD. For the most part I'm just trying to make it to 3000 words lol. Thanks a lot hun, I really appreciate the love and support :) and for the most part, Sora works at Walmart because I do XD but I do agree, it is far more realistic. If it wasn't Walmart, it most likely would have been a fast food restaurant. I kind of like to drive the point that life isn't magical and perfect really into the readers head sometimes XD._**

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><p><em>I finally got to see Riku again today. It's been a month since I last saw him. Of course, you already knew that. I'm actually sitting with him now. He saved me from a group of those weird creatures. He was going to leave, but... Well, I don't know what came over me. I panicked and asked him to stay and watch a movie with me. We're now sitting on my floor watching Warm Bodies. Well, he's sitting, I'm laying. But I guess that doesn't really matter.<em>

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><p>Riku raised a brow as he looked away from the movie and over to Sora. The brunet was tapping a mechanical pencil to his bottom lip as he stared intently down at a notebook that lay in front of him.<p>

What was he doing?

Riku tilted his head to the side, curious as to what the boy was writing. He wanted to at least get a glimpse, just to know what he was doing. Sora's demeanor suddenly changed though, the boy shifting on the floor and starting to gnaw at his bottom lip anxiously as his brows furrowed worriedly.

Riku raised a brow, wondering what suddenly had him so worked up. After a moment of contemplation, Riku stretched his leg out, knocking his foot lightly against Sora's arm. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Riku curiously, the silveret nodding his head towards the tv in response.

"I thought you wanted to watch this."

Sora blinked in surprise.

"I am wa-"

"No you're not." Riku said, quickly cutting off Sora's defense. "Don't lie to me Sora, I've known you your whole life, I know when you're full of shit."

Sora blinked in surprise, staring at Riku for a moment with wide blue eyes. Slowly, he raised a brow questioningly as a look of curiosity overcame his features.

"How many people have you watched over before me?" Sora asked curiously.

It was Riku's turn to blink in surprise at this, though he quickly came to his senses as he remembered Sora was rather uninformed about him.

"You're the only person I've ever watched over Sora. Ever since I was two years old." Riku explained, the boy's already wide eyes growing larger at Riku's words.

"Since you were two? I thought you died and became an angel." Sora's confusion evident in his expression and tone.

"No. Well, certain people can die and become an angel, but they wouldn't become a guardian angel. They'd be part of God's special alliance. But otherwise, angel's are born." Riku explained as Sora listened intently, now as curious as ever.

"What kind of people turn into angels when they die?"

"The ones with the strongest hearts. They're said to be the truly powerful beings, and that's why God has chosen them."

Sora slowly nodded his understanding through Riku's explanation, and after a moment, a wide, dazzling smile spread across his face as he gave into his childish excitement.

"That sounds awesome!" He exclaimed chipperly as he quickly moved to sit on his knees in front of Riku, the silveret taken aback by the sudden movement.

"What other stuff is there to know about you guys? Do you really live in the sky? What does it look like up there? Is it like a kingdom with streets paved with gold? Or is it kind of just like a normal city like a place like New York or LA or, or London?!" Sora inquired, talking quickly in his excitement as his face came mere inches from Riku's.

The elder boy leant back on his palms slightly, shoulders a bit tense as he stared wide eyed at the excitable brunet, though he soon found himself chuckling at his glee.

"Slow down Sora, you're gonna hurt yourself talking so fast." Riku said with a light laugh as he smiled and ruffled Sora's hair.

Sora blinked then pouted at Riku.

"I'm just curious." He defended with a slight whine.

Riku chuckled once more at the childish behavior then smiled at Sora.

"Only God and humans who have passed away live in the sky. Angel's live on earth with humans so we can watch over and protect you. And we don't live in anything even remotely fancy. We all reside in the poverty stricken parts." Riku explained to the younger boy, who was back to marveling at all the new information.

"Oh~, cool!" Sora said excitedly.

"What?" Riku tilted his head slightly, raising a questioning brow to the brunet, though an amused smile played on his lips.

"Well, it's like that one deadly sin right? If you guys lived in riches, that would be a sign of greed, so you live in poverty to preserve your purity." Sora explained his thought, smiling widely as he did so. Riku blinked in surprise, but quickly changed his expression to that of pride.

"Good job, not a lot of people would get that."

Sora beamed at the silveret, his excitement clear on his face.

"Thanks!" He chirped happily, pausing for a moment in thought before continuing on. "So, you've been watching me since you were two?"

Riku nodded once in confirmation.

"How is that possible? You were still just a child, how on earth did you protect me?" Sora asked curiously.

"Well," Riku started, scratching the back of his head as he thought out his words. "Angels minds develop faster than humans, so by two, we're capable of things that you wouldn't normally be capable of till you were about 5 or 6. We're then assigned a human to watch over and protect, but they tend to try and keep everyone in groups of four so they don't have to have as many elders running around trying to teach them. Plus, they're there to help fight if need be."

A small, small part of Riku screamed that he shouldn't be telling Sora any of this, that he was going to get in trouble again, but he couldn't seem to keep his attention on that part for more than two seconds. He just found himself countering with "who's it going to hurt?" And the objections stopped for a bit, his mind not really certain on how to debate with himself.

"So, you were part of a group of other angels while you watched over me?" Sora asked curiously, though Riku shook his head.

"No, I was one of the few that was assigned a personal teacher."

Sora cocked his head to the side and looked questioningly at the silveret. "Why's that?"

"Well, for starters, you didn't really hang out with a lot of kids. You just spent a lot of your time with your brother Vanitas, and his angel had already been taught everything I was learning. Then on top of that, I had been trained a bit differently." Riku explained.

"Why?" Sora asked curiously, vaguely, though he hoped Riku would understand what he was questioning.

And he did. He had to fight off a cringe at the question as he recalled what had happened to make him so different from the other guardian angels.

"I fucked up. Big time." Riku said, looking slightly saddened.

Sora couldn't help but pity the other as he noticed the sad look on the elders face.

"What happened?"

Riku sighed, running a hand through his hair and gripping it in the back, pulling the long strands slightly.

"It's better if you don't know just yet." Riku said guiltily.

Sora felt his chest tighten at the sorry state Riku was suddenly in, and, deciding to take it easy on the poor boy, turned the conversation in a different direction.

"So, why haven't I been able to see you till now?" Sora asked curiously. Riku, suddenly snapping out of his funk, shrugged.

"You shouldn't even be able to see me now. I don't know what, but something went wrong. Though, when you were younger, you actually did see me one day. It had scared the hell out of me cause I knew you weren't supposed to." Riku said with a small chuckle. Sora's eyes lit up at this new information.

"Really? When?!" He asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat on the floor.

"When you were about six years old I believe." Riku didn't have to guess his age at the time though. He remembered it well, and there was no way he'd ever forget what had happened that day when the younger brunet had seen him for the first time.

* * *

><p>After a couple more hours of chit chatting through random tv shows and such, Sora had finally realized how late in the morning it had gotten and, reluctantly, informed Riku that he needed to sleep. Riku, of course, understood, and ushered the boy onto his mattress, letting him know that he would watch over him while he slept. The thought comforted the brunet, and he hummed a tired 'goodnight' to the elder.<p>

Though Sora had no clue at the time what his dreams would have in store for him as he fell fast asleep.

_Sora was in the water, he knew that much for sure. It was slightly chilly in the water, and as he looked down through half lidded eyes, all he could see was darkness. But as he looked up, he could see the sun shining into the crisp calm waves._

_Instinctually, his mind told his body to swim to the surface as he was quickly losing oxygen, though he soon came to find that he couldn't remember how to swim. How couldn't he though? He'd been swimming since he was six._

_"Sora!" A muffled echo of his name was screamed out to him desperately, though the voice wasn't one he knew. He couldn't ponder the thought for long though. There was a sudden splash and the waters quick movements started to obscure his vision till he had to shut his eyes._

_With a small gasp, Sora suddenly realized he was finally above the water now, safe from drowning in the cool liquid as air slowly filled his lungs once more. Sora vaguely registered it as he was then laid on the ground, and for a moment, he couldn't see anything except the brightly shining sun. Thankfully though, a small head came to obscure his view of the overly bright ball of light, but all Sora could see in that moment was seafoam green._

Sora gasped slightly as he awoke, looking around his room with wide frantic eyes. There was a light sheen of sweat over his body, which confused him since not only was his room a bit chilly, he was sleeping in his boxers and he'd managed to kick off his blanket in his sleep.

What the hell was that though? He hadn't had a dream like that since he was a child. But... Those eyes...

* * *

><p><em>I met another angel today. It was an interesting experience, he seemed rather upset with Riku the whole time, but I think I managed to bond with him somewhat. Riku was rather impressed as well, but what this all lead up to is really what has been stuck in my mind...<em>

* * *

><p>Riku huffed out a breath as the last creature vanished, it's heart floating up into the sky. Something seriously wasn't right here. The monsters had been coming at least twice a night every night for two weeks. And everytime they seemed to get closer and closer to hurting Sora. He couldn't count how many of them had actually made a jump for the boy in the past two weeks, but it was getting rather aggravating.<p>

They shouldn't be able to attack him like this, they shouldn't even be able to appear right in front of him like they have been. He hadn't done something wrong again had he?

Riku sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't understand any of this. All he could think of was to go ask one of the elder angels what was happening. But at the same time, he didn't want to leave Sora for fear that he might get attacked while he was away.

"Everything alright?" Sora's familiar voice asked from behind. Riku whipped his head around to see the young brunet leaning on his window frame as he looked at Riku curiously.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just, thinking..." Riku said as he buried his hand in his hair once more.

"What are those things anyways?" Sora asked curiously. Riku paused for a moment, blinking out of his thoughts before he answered the boy.

"They're demons. The little black ones are known as Heartless, and the tall, skinny white ones are known as Nobodies. There's a couple other types you haven't seen yet though." Riku explained. Sora nodded slowly in understanding.

"Why are they always after me?"

"I um... It's hard to explain." Riku said as his demeanor changed once more to that of guilt.

"Another one of those things I should wait a bit for?" Sora questioned with a small knowing smile. Many of his questions for Riku appeared to lead him down this road, and after two weeks of his questioning, Sora was used to it.

Riku smirked and nodded, but just as he was about to speak once more, a new voice appeared, one Sora didn't recognize, but Riku obviously did.

"Riku you fucking idiot!" Yelled a blond male that was quickly flying downwards to land in Sora's backyard.

Riku didn't even look at the boy before a groan escaped his lips. He did not want to deal with this today.

"Fuck off Roxas, I'm not in the mood." Riku spat as he placed his hand on his hip, turning to glare at the other angel.

"I don't care! What do you think you're doing?! You know you're not supposed to reveal yourself to him, that's against the rules!" The newly named Roxas snapped as he landed on the ground. He was about the same hight and build as Sora, and his face resembled his, though he had shorter blond hair that spiked to the right side of his head. His eyes were the biggest resemblance though as they were a deep oceanic blue.

"And you're not supposed to come flying out of the sky either jackass. Now what do you want?" Riku snapped. Roxas scowled at Riku as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You haven't been home for two weeks, Donald's been looking for you, but you know he can't leave Mickey, so he told me to look for you while I came to check on Namine." Roxas explained coldly.

"Wait, Namine as in my baby sister?" Sora asked, interrupting their conversation. "You're her guardian angel?"

Roxas looked over at Sora confusedly, but he slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I am."

"Aren't you a bit old?"

Roxas' jaw dropped incredulously as Riku snickered over Sora's words. The brunet immediately became frantic as he realized what he said.

"T-that's not what I meant! I just..." Sora huffed in frustration at his own idiocy, though Roxas took a deep breath to stay calm and allow Sora to explain himself.

"It's just, Riku's only a year older than me, and you look more like you're my age rather than Namine's." Sora explained with a blush. Roxas seemed to soften at this, though as he got ready to explain why that was, Sora noticed a twinge of sadness spark on his features. Riku even seemed to settle down as Roxas began his tale.

"You're right about that, we tend to be assigned to our same age group. But last year, Namine's guardian was overwhelmed by a group of heartless and killed. Riku, having been there to check on you, took out the rest of the heartless and kept her safe. My human had died two years prior though in a car accident due to a drunk driver and his friend not paying attention to the road. I had been left jobless because of it. So once Namine was in need of a new guardian, I offered to do it. They thought it would be best because if the same thing were to happen again, I would be able to handle myself." Roxas explained. Sora frowned.

"That's awful, I'm so sorry that happened to you." Sora said sympathetically, but Roxas simply shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, it's been three years. And besides, it worked out perfectly for me. My human had been kind of an obnoxious prick, and now I have Namine." Roxas said, smiling fondly as he thought about the young girl. Sora couldn't help but smile in return.

"That's good. I'm glad things worked out for you. And it's good to know my baby sister is safe." Sora said cheerfully.

Roxas froze, staring at Sora with wide eyes for a moment and his mouth slightly agap.

"Um... Thanks. I'm gonna... Go check on Namine now." Roxas said quietly. He paused to look at Riku.

"I'll let Donald know where you are." He said, to which Riku sighed and nodded. With that, the boy flapped his wings and slowly flew back into the air, flying over the top of the house.

Sora slowly turned his attention back to Riku, who was smiling at the brunet impressively. Sora smirked slightly in response as he raised a brow questioningly.

"What?"

"You made Roxas disappear." Riku said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he looked at the ground and slowly walked over to Sora.

Said brunet chuckled.

"I assume you two don't really get along?" Sora asked. Riku shook his head.

"No, we actually butt heads a lot, but we have our moments where we get along." Riku explained.

"Well, I guess I'm glad I could help?" Sora said uncertainly with a chuckle. Riku smiled softly as he leant on the window sill.

"You're really an amazing person Sora." Riku admired.

The boy chuckled once more.

"What are you talking about?" He inquired confusedly.

"All you care about is making others happy. That's all it takes to satisfy you. It's amazing how much you care about others, even those you don't know." Riku said, his words making Sora look down as a blush rose to his cheeks.

"I think..." Riku paused, taking a breath as Sora looked up curiously.

"I think I'm falling for you."


	6. If Love's a Fight

Sora's eyes widened and his blush deepened to a dark red as he suddenly realized how close Riku's face was to his own. He could feel the silveret's warm breath on his face, smell the cheese of the Cheetos he'd been eating. Their noses were mere centimeters from touching and he could see those bright seafoam green eyes through Riku's silvery strands of hair perfectly.

"I-I um..." Sora stammered, not completely sure how to respond to him. Riku smiled, a breath takingly rare sight as the brunet continued to stare at Riku in wonder.

"It's alright, you don't have to say anything. I've known you your whole life, you've only known me a mere couple of months."

"It feels like I've known you much longer though." Sora said quickly with a small smile, and Riku chuckled.

"Maybe, but that's fine with me. Being able to be with you like this every day is fine for now, so just think on it for as long as you like." Riku offered, despite the stabbing pain that he felt in his heart from his own words. He wanted Sora desperately for longer than even he himself knew. But regardless, he'd do anything for the young brunet that sat before him, so he was willing to wait and hope that it would all work out in the end.

Sora smiled and laid his hand over Riku's.

"Thank you Riku." He said happily, and Riku shook his head slightly.

"It's not a problem. Now go ahead and get some sleep. You have work tonight remember?"

Sora nodded his agreement then bid Riku goodnight as he shut his window and curtain then crawled into his bed, his mind consumed with thoughts of the events that just took place.

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><p><em>The weird thing is, all I had been able to think about when he told me that was kissing him. Or, him kissing me. But that's a normal thought when your that close to someone right?<em>

_I am, of course, trying to figure everything out right now, but I need my sleep, just as Riku pointed out. But I also know I won't be able to figure anything out right now due to how frazzled I am over the current events. I just hope I can think things through at work tonight._

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><p>Riku wasn't in too great of a state after that. Not on the inside at least. To Sora, everything seemed fine. He was as stoic as ever, thoughtful and always on alert. But he smiled and laughed all the same as well. Riku was a good actor, or at least that's what he thought. He didn't know if others would agree, but so long as Sora didn't know Riku was upset, that's all he needed.<p>

Inside though... Well, he wasn't really sure what he was feeling. But he felt cold. And he did know that all he wanted, was to stay around Sora and never leave his side. Because at least when he was with Sora, he felt warm.

* * *

><p>"Riku!" A familiar voice griped, startling Sora and causing him to jump and look around frantically. Riku sighed in annoyance as he dropped his head, he didn't want to deal with this right now.<p>

Suddenly, Roxas appeared in Sora's room, making his eyes widen in surprise.

"Oh! Roxas, what are you doing here?" Sora asked curiously as a smile came to his face. They hadn't seen him for two weeks.

"I came to take Riku." Roxas answered. Sora frowned at this, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"Why, is something wrong?" Sora questioned, making Roxas sigh. All the while though, Riku kept his eyes glued to the ground.

"Kind of. He's broken a few rules, and the big man isn't too happy about it. Donald asked me to come get you." Roxas explained, directing that last sentence towards Riku. He shook his head though in response.

"I can't leave." Riku said, confusing the blond. Roxas placed his hands on his hips as he looked angrily at Riku.

"What do you mean you can't leave? You're not looking to leave the angel society are you?" Riku shook his head once more, continuing to look at the ground.

"That's not it Roxas." He said quietly.

"Then what is it?" He asked, clearly becoming uncomfortable by Riku's current state. He'd never seen him look so... Distraught.

"The heartless." He stated, finally looking up at Roxas, his expression a mixture of worry and and sternness. Sora was looking off now, seeming a bit saddened as well since he already knew what was going on.

"They're coming every day Roxas, sometimes several times a day. I don't know what to do, I don't understand why this is happening, but I can't... I can't just leave him alone. If something happened while I was gone, I couldn't..." Riku paused, looking down once more and shaking his head slightly.

"I can't risk that..." He said quietly, his voice a bit strained.

Roxas softened at this. He completely understood what Riku was going through. After all, if something were to happen to Namine while he was away, he was sure he couldn't handle that. He'd lose it if something happened to that sweet little girl.

"Alright. I'll let Donald know what's going on." Roxas said, Riku nodding in understanding.

"Thanks Roxas."

Roxas nodded slightly before disappearing, heading back to inform Donald about what was happening.

"Are you alright?" Sora asked, Riku nodding slightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You should probably go to sleep." Riku suggested, though Sora just continued to look at him worriedly. Riku held back a sigh, smiling reassuringly instead.

"I'll be right outside watching over you okay? I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Sora wasn't really worried about himself though. He knew he'd be fine so long as Riku was there to watch over him, but who would make sure Riku was okay?

Sora looked down sadly then let out a small sigh before pulling Riku into a hug.

"Don't push yourself okay?" Sora said quietly as he tightened his embrace.

Riku blinked in surprise, but a soft smile soon made it's way across his face.

"I won't. I promise."

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><p><em>I didn't get much sleep that day. Believe me, I tried, I just couldn't seem to manage to get past that point where you're in between being awake and being asleep. I believe lucid dreaming is what you would call it. Either way though, it wasn't pleasant, and it only made my night that much worse. Though, that was the least of my worries.<em>

* * *

><p>Sora sighed as he went to the dressing room to grab his jacket. It was nearly lunch time and he was getting ready to go get Leon when Roxas suddenly appeared, looking rather saddened.<p>

"Roxas? What are you doing here?" Sora asked curiously.

"Sora I..." Roxas trailed off, he didn't know how to properly go about giving Sora such shitty news. Though Sora just continued to wait patiently for Roxas to say what he needed to.

"I felt like you should know. You won't get to see Riku for a while." Sora's eyes widened considerably in shock before his expression turned incredulous.

"What? Why not?"

Roxas sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked off to the side.

"Apparently he's in a lot of trouble. He's supposedly broken a lot of rules as of late, and Donald and Mickey are none too happy. As punishment, he's not allowed to see you for five months." Roxas explained.

"What kind of punishment is that?!" Sora snapped, making Roxas shake his head slightly.

"I don't know. Doing that to a guardian... It's absolutely tortuous. He must have seriously fucked up." Roxas said, looking down pensively. Sure, he didn't get along too well with Riku, but he felt for him. He knew what this felt like, how awful it felt to have those alarms going off in your head as every fiber of your being screamed for you to go help that person, the person you're supposed to protect, but you can't. Whether it be as punishment or simply the fact that it's their time to go. Roxas knew all too well.

"Why is it so bad?" Sora asked curiously.

"Think of it like an alarm going off in your ears while someone taps on the back of your head. And all the while, the alarm gets louder and louder and the tapping gets stronger and stronger. And the more you don't help, the worse it gets. And then, it suddenly stops. And you don't know if they're alive or dead. Then all you can do is wait. Wait and see if that alarm will go off again." Roxas explained, leaving Sora stunned for a moment with the information.

"That's awful." He whispered, making Roxas nod in agreement.

"Can you..." Sora started, trailing off as he looked down.

"What is it?" Roxas urged curiously.

"Can you keep an eye on him for me? Please? I just-"

"Of course." Roxas said, interrupting the brunet. "Just do both Riku and I a favor, and stay out of trouble."

Sora looked up in surprise, but smiled widely in return as he saw Roxas' small smile.

"Yeah, definitely."

* * *

><p>Riku stood before Donald and Goofy, awaiting the news from up top.<p>

"Riku, as punishment for breaking our sacred rules, you are forbidden to see Sora for a year." Donald announced pompously as Goofy looked apologetically at Riku.

"You can't do that!" Riku yelled incredulously as Donald announced his suspension.

"Mickey can do what ever he wants, he's the one in charge here." Donald sassed in his nasally voice.

"But I haven't done anything!" Riku argued. Donald gave him the most deadpan look he'd ever seen as the shorter male flipped one of the papers on his chart.

"You have not only revealed yourself to your human, you have revealed what you are, told him about our world, how things work, fought demons in front of him and even forced another angel to show himself to the boy. On top of that, you have not returned our messages, calls or even returned here for weeks! All of which are against the rules! Do you want to become Fallen Riku? Is that it?" Donald said, looking sternly at the silveret.

"That's not it! The rules have exceptions Donald, and I have good reasons!" Riku countered.

"Oh? And what would this reasoning be? We'd love to hear what you have to say." Donald said sarcastically, frustrating Riku further.

"Well for starters, him being able to see me is _your_ fault because you're supposed to make sure that everyone is cloaked, not me! And I didn't tell him anything about myself or our culture, he figured it all out on his own and I only confirmed it. As for the demons, I can't help it if they're appearing in front of him and trying to attack him! That's not my fault, all I can do is protect him from them. And it's Roxas' own fault for just flying up like that! And I haven't been back here because I'm now on a round clock watch for demons because they're suddenly coming around every day, several times a day and attacking Sora head on. So what the fuck are you doing up here all day, cause you're certainly not helping my ass any!" Riku said, steadily getting more and more pissed.

"Don't you use that kind language in here!" Donald snapped, though Goofy placed his hand on Donald's shoulder, stopping the shorter from continuing this argument.

"We didn't know that obviously, but we can't just let you off the hook this time Riku. So due to the circumstances, Donald will take partial blame and punishment. But you still can't see Sora for five months. That's the best I can offer you." Goofy said sadly as Donald suddenly became incredulous over having to take punishment himself.

Riku sighed, five months was still a really long time, but it was better than a year. Plus, Goofy was really trying to help him out with this one, he was doing him a major favor, so he couldn't really complain now could he?

"Alright. Thank you Goofy, I really appreciate it." Riku said, smiling at the older male.

"Ah-yuck, aww shucks. It's the least we could do for Donald's screw up." He said bashfully as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"What?!" Donald snapped, but Goofy just placed a hand over his mouth as he started to rage, making Riku chuckle.

"See ya later Riku!" Goofy said cheerfully as he dragged Donald off.

"Yeah, see ya." Riku said with a nodded before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking towards his home.

"Five months... What the fuck am I going to do for five months?" Riku muttered to himself.

* * *

><p><em>So far, it's been three and a half months since I last saw Riku, and frankly, I've been missing him more than I thought I would. My chest aches so bad and I don't know why. I just want to see him again at this point. I keep dreaming about him, but every time I wake up, all I can think about is how my memories, my imagination, doesn't do him justice. <em>

_I just don't know how much longer I can take this. It's starting to make me irritable._

* * *

><p>Sora huffed as he flopped back on his bed. It was his day off and he was spending it with Vanitas at the moment, but all he could think about was Riku. He missed the silveret like crazy, and he couldn't help but think how much more entertaining Riku was than Vanitas.<p>

"You're boring." Sora stated as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Well gee thanks, I like hanging out with you too." Vanitas said sarcastically as he tapped at his laptop keyboard, playing some random space age game.

"Wish Riku was here..." Sora muttered poutily as he turned over to watch the TV. Vanitas rolled his eyes at Sora's words. He'd heard quite a bit about Riku, but even at that, he still didn't really know him. He knew his age, and he knew his name, but beyond that, Sora had only ever spoken of the time they spent together rather than any details of the man outside of the obvious. So of course, Vanitas didn't trust him, nor did he like him. Though when he tried to tell Sora and tell him that he didn't want him hanging around the other boy, he suddenly became Mr. Backbone and turned on him so fast, it kind of scared him.

"So why don't you just call him over? I'd love a chance to talk to him. Maybe punch him..." Vanitas said, muttering the last part, but that didn't stop Sora from hearing what he'd said.

"Piss off!" Sora snapped, smacking Vanitas in the back of the head.

"What the fuck?" Vanitas said, spinning around to look at Sora angrily, though the brunet was already glaring harshly at him.

"Leave Riku alone already! He's a damn good person and he'd never do anything to hurt me! He only wants to protect me!" Sora argued, though Vanitas only rolled his eyes at this.

"Yeah right Sora, you're just as blind as ever!" Vanitas said as he turned back to his game.

"And just what the fuck does that mean?" Sora asked, sitting up and looking at Vanitas incredulously. Vanitas sighed, rubbing a hand across his face.

"It means you're too trusting. All you see in people is the good, you never hunt for the bad, and that's why one of these days you're going to get yourself hurt. I'm just trying to make sure that doesn't happen, Sora."

Sora narrowed his eyes.

"You know what, fuck you! I have a better understand of people thatan you could ever dream to have, and my trust only goes into those that are absolutely worthy of holding my trust. Those that I've watched and tested and known for a good long while! I know who to trust, and if anyone's blind here I'd say it's you! After all, look at your record with girlfriends!" Sora yelled angrily.

"Oh here we go again!" Vanitas threw his hands in the air in exasperation.

"No." Sora stated firmly, baffling his brother. Vanitas looked at him confusedly, but Sora simply shook his head, climbing off his bed and slipping on his shoes as he grabbed his jacket.

"No, not this again. Not ever again. If you can't accept Riku and understand what a good person he is, if you're going to look down on me and treat me like an idiot..." Sora trailed off for a moment as he tugged on his jacket and moved towards the door.

"Then you can just leave me the fuck alone, cause if that's going to be the case, then I don't want anything to do with you." He then swiftly exited his room, slamming the door and heading for the front door of his house. Luckily him and Vanitas were the only ones there, so he didn't have to worry about telling his mother where he was going or what him and Vanitas were telling about. Not that she wouldn't have been capable of hearing with their thin walls, but she would, of course, want a family sit down so they could try to repair this.

Sora hated those family sit downs. He didn't want to explain his side, he didn't want to talk it out, because in the end, his family just always some how made him out to be the idiot because he couldn't properly voice his feelings and thoughts. On top of that, his mother enjoyed bringing up his mistakes of the past in all arguments, acting like that had something to do with the current situation and trying to guilt him into making up.

Sora huffed as he walked away from his house, stuffing his hands in his pockets and stomping down the street. Though as he got to the corner of the street, the wind suddenly picked up, blowing harshly against him. He squinted as he tried to see through the wind, but he could hardly open his eyes from the harsh winds. Though what startled him most was the ground rumbling and the ear piercing screech heading straight for him.

* * *

><p><strong>I am so sorry! This is so late, but I'm definitely going to try to update more! The only thing that's REALLY taking up a lot of my time has been work, of course there's other things going on as well, but I'm at work so often that it's really just the main problem. But yes, I'm going to try to update more! So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, shits gonna start getting real guys and a new character is coming in, so you will get to see them in the next chapter! So I'll see you all next update! Have a fantastic day, much love, buh-bye! <strong>


	7. Then I Shall Die

_I knew what was coming for me, all I could think of was that day with Riku, when that monster attacked us. My immediate instinct was to take off running and yet I couldn't move out of fear. I didn't know what to do. Riku wasn't there._

* * *

><p>Riku sat on his bed, curled into himself as he gripped his head. His entire body was shaking and his eyes were squeezed tightly shut. He couldn't do this. Everything in him was screaming at him to get off his ass and go save Sora, and it was driving him nuts not knowing if he was okay.<p>

He couldn't take this anymore!

Riku let out a loud scream, the kind that scratched your throat and gave you a thick dizzying feeling in your head, as he slammed his fist against the wall multiple times.

"This is torture. This is absolute torture..." Riku muttered after his tantrum, slumping against the wall and staring down at the bed.

"I can't do this. I can't just sit here, knowing he's in trouble and not do anything..."

He looked up to the window, his brows furrowing in contemplation.

What would happen if he went to him now?

* * *

><p>Sora's eyes widened as he saw a large beast flying down the street towards him. It looked like a Japanese dragon, and yet, from the symbol on it's chest he could tell it was one of those Heartless that was always after him.<p>

"Shit..." He breathed out, his body suddenly kicking into gear as he turned and took off running down the street, though he knew he couldn't keep this up for long. The thing had already nearly caught up to him, and he was just barely reaching the street corner.

* * *

><p>Riku ran as fast as he could out of his apartment building, getting ready to head down the street, but he didn't get far before someone grabbed his wrist.<p>

"Riku stop. If you keep breaking the rules like this you're going to become Fallen." Roxas said, looking at him sternly.

"I don't care what happens to me Roxas. But if something were to happen to Sora..." Riku trailed off, his chest tightening at the thought. "I couldn't forgive myself for not being there to help him. I can't take this wait and see. I have to make sure he's okay."

Roxas sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I can't let you go Riku. I can 't let you do this to yourself and Sora."

Riku stared at the ground, eyes narrowed at the cement, then in a burst of light he summoned his keyblade.

"And I can't let you stop me." He said, spinning around and clashing blades with Roxas.

"You couldn't make this easy could you?" Roxas said sadly, pushing off Riku's key and jumping backwards. Riku didn't respond though as he jumped back, his wings bursting out of his back and carrying him upwards.

"Catch me if you can!" He taunted before zooming off into the sky.

"Shit." Roxas cursed, his wings bursting out as well as he hurried to catch up to tge older boy.

* * *

><p>"No no no no. Where's Riku? I just want Riku!" Sora muttered to himself as tears welled in his eyes. His legs were starting to ache, his lungs burned for oxygen and his head was spinning. He didn't want to die, not yet. There was still so much he wanted to do, so much time he still wanted to spend with his loved ones.<p>

"Riku." He whispered as he continued on. Though he didn't run for much longer as he suddenly ran into a firm body, nearly falling on his ass if not for the arm that looped around his waist, pulling him close to their body. Before Sora could even process what was going on, he was suddenly being flown into the air in a flurry of black feathers.

"It looks like Riku wasn't lying." A deep, smooth voice said calmly, catching Sora's attention and making him finally look up at the man that was holding him.

He held a strong facial resemblance to Riku, but the thing that made them look most alike was the man's silver hair. Though his was much longer than Riku's, coming all the way past his rear.

"W-Who are you?" Sora asked curiously, his voice wavering slightly from his fear.

"I am Sephiroth. I'm the angel that was put in charge of you till Riku's suspension ended." He explained without a second thought.

"Now hold on tight."

Sora was mildly confused, but he did as he was told, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth's neck and looking over his shoulder.

In a flash of light, an oddly large katana appeared in Sephiroth's hand. He gripped it tightly as he started to soar towards the large heartless coming straight for them, making Sora's panic rise before he suddenly dashed under the Heartless.

He zoomed under it in a zig-zag pattern, slicing as he went. As he came to the end of the beast he flew above it. Stabbing his sword into it's tail, a loud screech emitting from the Heartless as he dragged his sword along it's body. Stopping at the head, he pulled his sword out, spinning the long katana in his hand before severing his head. The Heartless suddenly exploded in a blast of smoke, a large heart floating upwards from where the Heartless once was.

"Oh my god..." Sora breathed out in shock, eyes wide as Sephiroth slowly lowered them to the ground.

"You should be safe for now." Sephiroth said, standing Sora on his feet. "I'd suggest going home and staying there."

Sora looked down at the cement beneath him, brows furrowed pensively.

"I don't want to go home." He muttered. Sephiroth raised a brow questioningly, but he simply shook it off. He didn't care what the boy did. It was just his job to protect him, not tell him what to do.

"Do whatever you like. It was merely a suggestion to keep you safe." He said before disappearing in a flurry of feathers that spiraled around in the air before slowly reaching the ground.

Sora stood there for a moment, staring at where Sephiroth had been standing. What had just happened was starting to all catch up with him. His chest tightened, his eyes burned and his entire body was shaking as he started to hyperventilate.

He fell to his knees on the sidewalk, subconsciously thanking god that his neighborhood was extremely quiet and inactive. Though he had no clue how no one had heard or seen that monster.

* * *

><p>Sephiroth had just left Sora, flying off into the sky to continue watching the boy from a distance, when he sensed something barreling straight for him. He quickly summoned his sword, just in time to clash his blade against a familiar batwing blade.<p>

"Riku." He said in greeting as he relaxed, though neither male moved from their current position

"Sephiroth." Riku said, eyes narrowed. The silveret looked positively worn. His eyes were dull and lifeless with large bags under them and dark circles, only made more noticeable from how pale his skin was. Though they sparked with fire as he glared at the older male. His normally well kept hair was a mess and had lost it's natural shine as the silvery color looked more grey now.

"Sora's fine. You need to leave. Or you're just going to end up in even more trouble." Sephiroth said calmly, but there was a hidden sternness to his tone.

"I don't care about any of that! All I want is to protect Sora! And I'll do whatever it takes to do just that!" Riku said, forcing Sephiroth off of him and swiftly flying around him, speeding towards Sora as quickly as his wings would allow. He could see Sora sitting on the pavement, shaking and hugging himself tightly, as if he were trying to hold himself together. Riku felt his heart wrench at the sight.

"Sora." He said quietly, gripping the front of his shirt as he started to slow down, landing right in front of the brunet.

Sora immediately noticed the feet in front of him, but as he went to look up, the person knelt down and pulled him into a hug. Sora's eyes widened as fresh tears filled his eyes.

"Riku..." He whispered, shakily reaching his arms around Riku's waist and hugging him tightly.

"Riku... It's Riku! Riku's here!" He sobbed a bit hysterically as he cried into the older boy's shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay Sora, it's okay. Just calm down." Riku responded in a calm, soothing tone as he gently rubbed Sora's back.

"I was so scared. I thought I was going to die. I thought... I thought I wouldn't get to see you again." Sora whimpered as he shook violently.

"It's okay. I'm right here. So let's get you home alright?" Riku said reassuringly, but Sora simply shook his head, confusing Riku. What was he saying no to?

"I don't wanna go home right now." He whinnied, pulling back from Riku as he rubbed the tears out of his eyes, though Riku kept his arms around his shoulders, not wanting to completely release him just yet.

"Why not?" He asked confusedly with a raised brow, but Sora just sighed and shook his head.

"I-It's a long story." He said quietly, looking at the ground. Riku frowned. He was hoping for some sort of answer, to at least give him an inkling as to what was currently happening, but he didn't want to push Sora. He'd seemingly already been through enough for the day.

"Do you want to come to my place then?" He suggested hesitantly. Sora continued to stare at the ground for a moment, seemingly thinking it over, before slowly nodding his agreement. Riku sighed under his breath, wobbly getting to his feet then helping Sora up, said brunet immediately wrapping his arms around Riku's waist and burying his face in his chest. Riku couldn't help the small, affectionate smile that came to his face as he held onto Sora before taking off into the sky once again.

* * *

><p><em>I didn't know what to think at this point. All I knew was Riku was there, and I was so happy and I never wanted to leave his side again, nor did I want to let him go.<em>

* * *

><p>Sora's eyes widened as he looked at Riku's apartment building. He wasn't kidding when he said he lived in poverty. This building was covered in graffiti, several windows were busted, and the front door had obviously been kicked in by someone while parts of it appeared to be very unstable.<p>

"This doesn't look too safe." Sora said a bit fearfully as he took a couple steps back.

"What? You're not scared are you?" Riku teased with a small smirk, looking at him with a raised brow.

"What? No way, not a chance!" Sora said defiantly, crossing his arms and turning away from Riku with a pout. Riku chuckled, placing one hand on his shoulder as he gestured towards the building.

"After you then." He said, looking amusedly at the brunet. Sora looked up at it warily for a moment, then cautiously made his way up to the door, shoving open the broken door and stepping inside. It didn't look much better than the outside though. It was dirty, with random bits of trash scattered over the floor and he even spotted some bugs crawling around on the floor and the walls.

"So this is how I'll die." Sora joked as he looked around, making Riku chuckle.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. I've lived here for four years, nothings happened to me." Riku said as he lead him through the building.

Sora glanced back at him with a confused expression.

"You moved in at 15?"

"God yes. I hated my family. I wanted to get the fuck out of there." Riku said, finally stopping at his apartment and pulling out his keys.

"Why's that?" Sora asked curiously as he watched Riku slam his shoulder against his door to get it open.

"Damn piece of shit." He muttered, kicking it as he lead Sora inside his apartment.

"They're proper christians, enforcing God's law with such a passion that you just want to break all the rules. They managed to drive it into my brother's head, some how. But when it came to me... I don't know. They claim they messed up on me. Even apologized to me for it once. They made me feel like I was a mistake. So I left, came here and settled in."

Sora's eyes widened at Riku's words and he spun around to look at the boy, Riku shutting the door to his apartment with a bit of a struggle. As soon as he turned back to Sora though, he grabbed Riku by the biceps and looked up at him with determination and worry.

"Riku you are **not** a mistake!" He said desperately.

Riku blinked in surprise. Where the hell was this coming from?

"I know." He said, his expression becoming more confused.

"Oh, ah..." Sora trailed off embarrassedly, a light blush tinting his cheeks pink as he stared at Riku, only now getting a good look at the silveret and realizing how hellacious he looked, his hair a mess, his skin pale and large bags under his eyes.

Completely forgetting about the previous conversation, Sora's expression became one of curiosity as he released Riku's biceps and instead placed his hands on Riku's cheeks.

"What the hell happened to you?" He asked, a mixture of confusion and worry in his voice. Riku made a face at the brunet, utterly confused as to how they were suddenly talking about Riku's appearance when moments ago they had been talking about Riku's family. After a moment though, he let out a loud laugh.

"You're such a space case." Riku said amusedly, the look on his face one of utter adoration as he placed his hands on Sora's cheeks and pushing their foreheads together.

"Huh?" Sora responded confusedly, his blush darkening from how close Riku's face suddenly was to his own. His breath hitched in his throat as he stared up into those sparkling aquamarine eyes. Before Riku say, or even do, anything more, Sora pulled him down slightly as he got on his tippy toes and pressed his lips against Riku's in a kiss.

Riku's eyes widened as Sora kissed him and he immediately pulled away, looking at him in utter shock. He was surprised at first, but soon the boy's expression became disheartened as rejection settled in.

_What am I doing?_ Riku thought incredulously before hastily pulling Sora back to him and firmly pressing his lips against the younger's.

It was now Sora's turn to be surprised by Riku's sudden actions, but he quickly melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Riku's neck.

It was short, and sweet, and both boys seemed to understand that neither had the intention of taking it any further. But they were happy and content as they understood where this road would lead them.

"I'm gonna go take a shower. Then we can both get some sleep okay?" Riku suggested, making Sora smile widely and nod.

"Sounds great."

* * *

><p><em>I'm not quite sure how or even why that had happened, but I'm glad it had. I was coming to understand my own feelings for Riku, and all I wanted was not only my own happiness, but his.<em>

_When I saw Riku smile, when I heard him laugh, and everytime I would catch him looking at me with that sparkle of adoration in his eyes. It felt amazing to be the one that could bring so much happiness to someone who seemed like such a lonely soul. And maybe that might sound a bit selfish, but it doesn't matter. All that matters, all that's ever mattered so much to me, is Riku. And I never wanted to leave his side._

* * *

><p><strong>Kairi: Sora?<strong>

**Kairi: Helllllooooooo?**

**Kairi: Are you ignoring me?**

**Kairi: Oh that's really mature Sora, now knock it off.**

**Kairi: Seriously, what the hell?**

**Kairi: Why won't you answer me?**

**Kairi: Sora!**

**Kairi: SORA!**

**...**

**Kairi: I... I miss you...**


	8. With My Heart on a Trigger

Sora laid on his side, curled up with Riku sleeping right behind him, his arms wrapped loosely around his stomach while Sora stared pensively at his phone. He'd just read all of the messages Kairi had sent him over the past few months, and he kind of felt horrible. He wasn't ignoring her on purpose, he'd just been really consumed with... Well, with Riku. But honestly, he didn't think Kairi would be this upset not talking to him. It kind of made him feel a bit better about the state of their relationship. At least he knew she still cared.

As he was staring at the screen though, trying to figure out how to respond to her when a new message came in from her. Sora looked at it curiously for a moment but clicked on it quickly, gnawing at his lip as he read over the message.

**_Thinking of you, wherever you are._**

_**We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend.**_

_**Now I will step forward to realize this wish.**_

_**And who knows:**_

**_starting a new journey may not be so hard, __or maybe it has already begun._**

_**There are many worlds, but they share the same sky **_

**_—__one sky, one destiny._**

_**-Kairi**_

Sora stared at the message with wide teary eyes, as a lump formed in his throat. Before he knew it, he was a shaking, sobbing mess. He put down his phone, placing both hands over his mouth to muffle his crying so not to wake Riku, though it didn't work out too well for him since moments later Riku had woken. He placed his hand in Sora's fluffy locks, stroking his hair as he started to sit up.**  
><strong>

"Sora? What's wrong?" He asked worriedly, his voice thick with sleep as he struggled slightly to keep his eyes open.

"I'm sorry..." Sora whimpered quietly as he rubbed at his eyes, trying to rid himself of the tears pouring down his cheeks. His apology only further confused the sleepy silveret though. "I didn't mean to wake you..."

Riku rolled his eyes at the response.

"Sora, I don't care about being woken up, I care about why you're crying. Now what happened?" Riku said, placing his hand on Sora's shoulder and rubbing it soothingly.

Sora sniffled, starting to calm down a bit as he grabbed his phone and showed the message to him. Riku took the phone, tucking some hair behind his ear as he started to read over the message. He couldn't help the flair of jealousy in his chest as he read over it, but he didn't allow it to show on his face.

"That's a rather deep message..." Riku said, trailing off for a moment as he read over it once more. He then put the phone down, looking to Sora curiously. "How are you going to respond?"

Sora shrugged, hicupping as he rubbed the tears from his eyes. Though it was a wasted effort as the tears just continued to reform.

"I don't know..." Sora said, his voice thick and cracking.

"I feel awful Riku, I haven't spoken to her in months, she's left me so many messages. And I don't love her anymore... I feel nothing of the sorts for her. And I don't know how to tell her that."

Riku looked over Sora sadly. He hated to see the boy hurt so much and not be able to help him in some way.

"Come here." Riku said, opening his arms to him. Sora looked up curiously for a moment, but slowly got up and nuzzled into Riku's chest, the silveret wrapping his arms tightly around him as he started to fall apart once more.

"What do I do Riku?" Sora whimpered through the sobs. Riku took a deep breath. He wasn't fond of Kairi for how she'd hurt Sora, and he was always jealous because she was always capable of keeping him wrapped around her finger. He always wanted her out of the picture, but he couldn't be selfish here. He needed to think about what was best for Sora.

But he wasn't sure what that was.

"... You should tell her the truth. You can't lead her on Sora. You have to let her know how you feel." Riku said, a small twang in his chest at his own words. Saying this meant he'd get to keep Sora, which felt selfish to him in a way. Though, on the other hand, it's not like Sora hadn't made it clear that he wanted Riku now, so how bad could he really feel about such a thing?

The answer was very. But he'd never let it show.

Sora sniffled, nodding into Riku's chest as he tried to calm down once more, pulling away to pick up his phone and respond to the girl. Though he couldn't keep his emotions at bay.

**Sora: Kairi...**

That was all he managed to get out on the first message. His chest ached so badly as he waited with baited breath.

Soon enough a new message appeared.

**Kairi: Sora! Oh my god where have you been? Why haven't you answered me for so long?**

**Sora: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to not respond to you, I just got caught up in everything that's been going on here.**

**Kairi: I don't care anymore Sora. I just missed you. And in our time apart, I realized, I want you back. I still love you Sora, I miss what we had, and I want to try starting over again. I really think we can make it this time.**

**Sora: I'm so sorry, Kairi...**

**Kairi: What?**

**Sora: I'm so very sorry, Kairi. But I don't want to continue what we had anymore. I loved you. But I met someone else. And I think I might actually love them more. I care about you Kairi, and you're welcome to stay my friend. But I can't continue what we had, it wouldn't be fair to you.**

Sora looked up to Riku for confirmation before he sent the message. He didn't want to hurt the girl. But he knew he had to do this, he couldn't lead her on. He just prayed she didn't snap.

Unfortunately, he didn't receive a response, which only panicked him more. She could be doing anything, she could've grabbed a gun and shot herself for all he knew.

Riku simply continued to console him though as Sora's crying only worsened.

* * *

><p><em>I didn't know what to do with myself after that. All I seemed to be able to think about was whether or not Kairi was okay. She was an unstable person, she'd tried to kill herself in the past, so now I was more worried than I'd ever been. I knew how much I meant to her, I just hoped I didn't mean so much that she'd go to such lengths when it came to losing me.<em>

_Thankfully though, I had Riku there to make things better. To make me feel okay and tell me I'd done the right thing. Even if it didn't feel like it..._

* * *

><p>Riku laid in his bed, watching Sora as he slept. The boy looked so peaceful right now, even if he did have dried tear tracks stuck to his cheeks from crying as he fell asleep. He could understand why Sora was so upset by the current situation, after all, Kairi had grown to be a very important person to the brunet, and not even Riku had thought there would be a possibility for them to suddenly fall apart to this extent.<p>

Riku sighed quietly as he stroked Sora's hair, his soft, spiky locks running smoothly between his fingers as he looked down with adoration, allowing his thoughts to wander for a bit.

It was crazy to think that he'd known Sora his whole life, yet the young boy had only known him for a matter of months. But in that time... They'd grown so close to each other, so fast... He knew it was probably selfish, but he didn't want to give that closeness up. And yet, at the same time, he knew this was against the rules. He was facing a lot of serious punishment, especially now that he'd defied his current orders and went to go see him again. If he kept this up, things could get a lot more worse, he could even become Fallen...

Riku sighed, a knot forming in his stomach as he thought this over.

"I won't lose you..." He muttered quietly, stroking Sora's hair gently.

* * *

><p>Roxas sighed heavily as he walked slowly into the library where Donald, Goofy and his majesty, King Mickey were waiting for him patiently. Well, Mickey and Goofy were at least, Donald on the other hand was tapping his foot impatiently and looking rather irritated.<p>

Mickey was sat behind a desk, one leg crossed over the other and his elbow propped up on the arm rest of his chair as he rested his cheek in his hand, amusedly watching his best friend and right hand man. Mickey was dressed rather casually as well, with a simple black turtle neck sweater and his usual red pants with yellow and white sneakers. His hair was slicked back perfectly though and perched on the end of his nose was a pair of thin, wire glasses.

Goofy as well was dressed in a casual manner with a green striped sweater and black baggy cargo pants. His hair was its usual mess and he sat by the small fire place with Mickey's pet dog Pluto, the dog laying with his head in Goofy's lap as the man stroked his head.

The scene was almost content, if not for Donald's incessant need to be a grouch.

Donald was dressed rather properly in a dark blue button up that was tucked into his black slacks with a white vest and tie. The only thing messy about Donald's appearance was his orange hair.

At the sound of the door closing though, they all looked in Roxas' direction curiously.

"Ah, Roxas nice to-" Mickey began in his high pitched voice, only to be interrupted by a yell from Donald.

"Don't you know how to knock?!" He said angrily, his voice nasally and obnoxious.

"Donald." Mickey said in a warning tone, giving his second in command an irritated look. Donald suddenly looked away sheepishly, muttering to himself.

"Sorry Roxas, you know how Donald gets." Mickey said with a chuckle, making Roxas smile slightly and shake his head.

"It's alright Majesty. Anyways, you wanted to see me?" Roxas said politely, Mickey nodding as he readjusted himself in his seat so he was now sitting straight at his desk. He gestured to the seat in front of the desk for Roxas and folded his hands over the smooth wooden surface. Roxas moved quickly across the room, taking the offered seat and looking up at Mickey curiously.

"Roxas, we need to speak to you about Riku." Mickey said, a tinge of sadness to his voice as he spoke. Roxas shifted uncomfortably and looked down slightly.

"Look, I tried to stop him, I told him Sora was fine, he didn't want to listen. And I can't exactly blame him since so many heartless keep going after Sora, he has constant alarms going off in his head." Roxas said uncomfortably. He didn't exactly know why he was defending Riku like this right now, though as he thought on it, he realized that maybe Riku wasn't the one he was protecting currently.

Mickey blinked in surprise, his eyes growing wide as he suddenly stood from his chair. He wasn't even going to ask about that. In fact, he wasn't even aware of any of this, this was the first time he's heard of this news on the situation.

"What do you mean? How many heartless are going after him?" Mickey asked, now slightly panicked.

Roxas looked up, a bit startled by Mickey's sudden reaction at this and slowly responded to the raven haired male.

"Um... They're attacking every day, some times several times a day. Riku told Donald and Goofy, that's why they lessened the length of his suspension." Roxas explained. Mickey stared at the blond for a moment, then his eyes suddenly narrowed as he turned his gaze in the direction of his two friends, Donald now looking nervous as Goofy sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh, oops. I forgot ta tell ya that Mickey." Goofy said, looking guilty. Mickey expected such a thing of Goofy, Donald, however, would not be getting off the hook.

Donald laughed nervously, taking a couple steps away from the desk before making a mad dash for the door.

"DONALD! THIS ISN'T OVER!" Mickey yelled before sighing and flopping back into his chair.

"Um... Was this not about Riku's punishment?" Roxas asked confusedly. Mickey sighed and nodded slowly in confirmation.

"Then, why was I called here?"

"We wanted to ask if you knew why he was acting out all of a sudden." Mickey explained as he rubbed his temples, trying to fend off the headache he felt quickly approaching.

Roxas was only more confused by this.

"Riku's never followed the rules, this kind of behavior is nothing new." Roxas said.

"I know Riku isn't exactly perfect, but he's always followed the main rule set when it comes to Guardians. And now he's not only shown himself to humans but informed one of our world. He's fought heartless in front of him, spent time with him. He has never behaved in such a way. Do you know what's going on?" Mickey explained, now looking at Roxas expectantly.

"Look, I don't know what goes on in Riku's head, but I can tell you it's not completely his fault. I mean, Sora shouldn't have been able to see me, but he did, and he shouldn't be able to see the heartless, they're supposed to be invisible to the human eye, but he can see them as well. I mean, I know some people have the gift of such sight, but, I think there's something more to than that. Because, the gift of sight doesn't make heartless attack a person the way they've been attacking him." Roxas said, his brows furrowed as he looked down in thought.

"Well, this is all news to me..." Mickey muttered to himself. They sat there for a moment in silence, then Mickey let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his neat hair. "Looks like I'm going to have to have a long talk with Donald. Anyways, thank you for coming in Roxas, you may go now."

Roxas nodded slightly in understanding, quickly getting out of his seat and heading for the door. Once he was out he leant against the hard wood, letting out a long sigh and staring down at the floor.

"Thank god, I thought I was in trouble..." He muttered to himself.

* * *

><p><em>I spent the entire weekend at Riku's apartment. We had a really fun time together, eating pizza and watching movies. We even took a couple walks around the neighborhood. Surprisingly there was no incidents with the heartless or the nobodies. When I had asked Riku about it, he told me it was because we were in a holy zone, "a place protected by his Majesty" to quote Riku. <em>

_But we both knew that we weren't out of the woods. I had to go home at some point, and I had work. They were guaranteed to return for me. And on top of that, Riku would have to face punishment for breaking his suspension. And life had another ride in store for us, just waiting around the corner._

* * *

><p>Sora sighed as he and Riku started to approach his house, happy that they were almost home. They had taken a trip to the near by gas station, Riku now carrying a brown paper bag full of snacks while Sora carried a large bottle of soda. They had decided to spend a bit of time watching some movies together this morning since they had a little while longer before Sora had to sleep for work.<p>

"So, did you decide what you want to watch?" Riku asked a bit amusedly, looking over to Sora questioningly. Sora chuckled and shook his head.

"Not really, but I don't care what we watch." Sora said happily, readjusting his grip on the soda bottle as he reached into his pocket, getting his keys ready to unlock the front door of his house. But as they walked around the corner of the house, Sora froze.

There was a person standing at his door. They were wearing a pink tank top with blue basketball shorts and green flip flops. Their hair though was a dark red, about shoulder length and pulled back into a loose pony tail. As the person heard them walking up, they turned around, blue eyes immediately locking onto Sora.

"Hello Sora." She said, placing her hands on her hips. She turned her attention to Riku for a moment, eyeing him suspiciously before turning her attention back to Sora, looking at him expectantly. Riku already knew very well who she was, having known Sora his whole life kind of meant he knew everyone, even people Sora may not remember. But there was no doubt that Sora also knew who was standing before them.

Sora's eyes widened considerably as he looked into her blue eyes, his grip on his keys loosening until they fell from his hands, clattering loudly on the ground.

"Kairi..." Sora breathed out in his shock.

* * *

><p><strong>HOLY SHIZ! Getting to 3000 words was a struggle for this chapter, but I some how managed it x.x<strong>

**Finally getting this up after so long and I'm so sorry that it has been this long! So much has happened, most of it I won't speak of, but what I will confess is that I have had such a struggle getting back into writing! Like, I've been trying for a solid month now, and I just have been having issues with the plot, with capturing the characters properly, and even with the writing itself! I swear, everything I wrote came out terrible, I can't tell you how many times I had to restart whatever I was writing. But I've been working super hard and forcing one of my friends to rp with me simply so I could get a handle on things, and I think it's really been helping.**

**So! I hope you all have been well, and I hope you enjoy the update! This chapter is mostly un-beta'd, so let me know if you catch anything grammar wise, and constructive criticism is always welcome! And I will see you guys in the next chapter! Bye!**


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